In The Family
by Snowdrop71
Summary: It's been nearly twenty years since Maddy and Brittany were transported to the world of Hetalia and the 2p's haven't bothered them since, but now, without Brittany there to help and comfort her, Maddy must deal with a completely new challenge- motherhood. Characters are from the story Hetalia: Tale of Two Girls by pinkittwice54. Rated T for occasional language and dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

"Mom!"

The blonde sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and wondering why life seemed to like messing with her. The voices in the living room were easily heard from her third floor study due to their sheer volume.

"Mom!"

She got up and pushed the door open, only serving to make the arguing louder as she went down the hallway and stairs.

"Hey, shut up! Mom's busy remember? Leave her alone!"

"You shut up! You're not my father!"

"No, but I'm older than you!"

She sighed again, finally making it to the living room and leaning against the doorframe. "Sev, honey, I don't think I've ever heard you use such a childish argument."

Severus turned away from his siblings and looked at his mom, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "But mom-"

She held up a hand, cutting him off. "What is going on?"

The other five people in the room suddenly became completely silent, all of them refusing to meet their mother's eyes. The problem was, the blonde didn't need to hear what had happened. She was used to her children fighting, had come to accept it as routine actually. She understood that siblings argued and had rivalries, but sometimes she felt like her children brought it to a whole other level. She raised an eyebrow at the five of them, her gaze locking each of them in place.

Finally, Christopher cracked a small smile. "We just couldn't decide on a movie, mom. That's all."

"I find that extremely hard to believe."

Abelia stood and made her way to the door, before pushing past her mother. Her arm was grabbed and she was dragged partially back into the living room. "Where do you think you're going, young lady?"

The brunette rolled her eyes before sending her mother an annoyed look. "To my room." she gestured to her older brother and the other three children. "Away from them."

Her mother's eyes narrowed at her. "Bell…"

Abelia tore her arm out of her mother's grasp and stalked to her room, slamming the door. Her mother sighed and looked at the four children who remained in the room. "Anyone else want to leave?"

Chris and Brittany got up, walked past their mother and went to their rooms, their doors closing less violently than Abelia's had. Severus and Selene settled back down on the couch, quietly discussing what movie they should watch. As they decided on a horror film, Maddy sighed for what felt like the millionth time and went back to her study, trying desperately not to cry or scream. Sometimes, it felt like she was barely holding what little was left of her family together.

 **This chapter was a bit shorter than I originally wanted it to be, but oh well.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey dad, why don't you and mom live together?"

Matthew stopped, trying to figure out how to answer his daughter. Selene watched him expectantly, ruby red eyes trained on him. Brittany and Christopher had already gone to bed, but Selene was still wide awake despite how early she'd gotten up that morning. She was like her mom when it came to sleeping patterns. Get up early, go to bed late, always be tired but never do anything about it. Or, at least, that's what her father told her. Even after seventeen years, she still didn't know her mother's sleeping patterns well enough to know if hers were similar.

The blond sighed and sat down across from his daughter, resting his arms on the table. "It's.. complicated."

Selene frowned at him, her nose scrunching up, the answer not satisfying enough for her. "That's what mom said. Why won't either of you tell me anything?"

He closed his eyes and rubbed the side of his face before looking her in the eye again. "Selene, honey, it's just- a lot… happened between us."

"I know!" Selene replied, knitting her fingers together. "Grandpa Francis told me! He said mom got this spell put on her and _that's_ why Sev, Bell, Brittany, Chris and I were born!"

Matthew raised an eyebrow at her. "Did he? Interesting." He'd have to talk to his father about that.

Selene stopped, realizing she'd probably just gotten her grandfather in trouble. "He didn't go into detail though, just kept muttering about Arthur. Did Arthur have something to do with it? Is that why they don't talk?"

Her father simply smiled and shook his head slightly. "That _might_ be part of it, but no. They've never liked each other." He got up and resumed pouring food pellets into a bowl for Chris's ferret, Byeli. "And technically, it wasn't _just_ Arthur. Lukas and Vlad were helping him with the spell and they had no idea it would effect your mother the way it did."

"You mean get her pregnant?" Selene clarified.

He resisted the urge to facepalm. She was very blunt, always getting straight to the point, never leaving anything vague. "Yes, Selene, that's what I meant. They still won't tell us what the spell was originally supposed to do, but it _wasn't_ supposed to get your mother pregnant."

"How does that even work?" Selene asked, staring at the ceiling like it was going to give her the answers to life's biggest questions or tell her the meaning of life.

Matthew chuckled and sat down again. "I don't pretend to understand what those three do with their magic." He stood again, suddenly feeling restless. "Come on, time for bed."

"Aw, but dad, I'm not even-" her sentence was cut off by a yawn that she tried to hide with her hand. She grinned at him sheepishly, knowing she'd been caught. "Tired."

"Yeah right. Come on."

She got up, following him to her room even though she knew the way. When they got there, she crawled into bed, surveying it for a minute before finding and grabbing her pet fox from the corner and hugging him. Matthew watched his daughter for a minute before smirking at her, "Do you want me to tuck you in?"

Her eyes widened and she blushed, her pale complexion making it even more obvious. "Dad! I'm seventeen, not three!"

"Alright then. Good night." He turned to walk away, before she grabbed his wrist.

"I suppose... this once couldn't hurt." she muttered, stubbornly refusing to look him in the eye. "Just this once though."

He smiled and turned back to the bed, carefully tucking the blanket around her shoulders like he'd done when she was little. "Just this once." He kissed her forehead and went to the door. "Goodnight honey."

"Goodnight dad. I love you."

"I love you too."

The blond took the bowl of food pellets to his son's room, put it in Byeli's cage and turned the bedside lamp off. Chris had long since fallen asleep, his computer screen still open on the english paper he was writing. Matthew clicked the save button and closed the computer before leaving the room again. He made his way to Brittany's room, hoping she wasn't still awake. A quick check assured him that she wasn't and he went back downstairs, his mind wandering. Selene's questions had dragged questions of his own up and these weren't ones he liked to obsess over. Mostly about the woman he hadn't spoken to in person for... how long had it been now? Ten years? He sat down, mulling over it, wondering if Maddy was ever going to stop being so stubborn and prideful. What were they to each other now? Sure, they'd been together when they'd found out she was pregnant and when she'd moved out, but could they still be considered a couple? He'd been planning to ask her to marry him at one point. He wasn't sure if she'd accept it now, but sometimes he thought about how she'd been when she'd first gotten here, quiet and stubborn with her nose buried in a book. She'd been a nervous, blushing mess with a face that looked like a tomato because of how red she was. It was weird to think it had been so long since then.

He sighed and leaned back, his head hitting the back of the chair. He opened his eyes, glaring at the ceiling. Sure, it hadn't done anything to him and wasn't the source of his problems, but it seemed to be enduring a multitude of looks lately. An idea crossed his mind and he sat up, checking his calendar. Maybe it was time he paid her a visit.

 **I know I just posted this story yesterday, but I've had the idea rolling around in my head for a while so I figured I'd post the next chapter.**

 **pinkittwice54: Thank you! The fact that you like the concept means a lot to me. I promise that I'll try very hard not to butcher any of your characters and if you or Maddy have a problem with the way I write it, I will change it or take it down. I'm not planning on making this story super dark, but there will definitely be a lot of conflict.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Did one of the kids leave something here?"

Matthew's eyes widened and looked away briefly. He'd been expecting her to be annoyed, maybe distant, but not cold and hateful. After a minute, he took a deep breath to compose himself and looked back at the blonde in front of him. "Do the kids always have to be my reason for coming over?"

Maddy raised an eyebrow at him before stepping back and walking away from the door. "They usually are."

Matthew took this as an invitation to come inside and went in before she could change her mind. As he leaned against the doorframe, taking his shoes off, he realized he could smell something baking. "Is it wrong for me to want to see you?"

She stopped and threw an annoyed look at him over her shoulder. "If we were under normal circumstances I'd say no, but then, we've never really had _normal_ circumstances, have we?" She continued towards the kitchen, rolling her eyes and brushing flour off her shirt.

"What are you making?" he asked tentatively, following a few steps behind. He was going to get them talking, even if it was just small talk it would be something.

"If you recall," she muttered, crouching so she was eye level with the window on the oven. "We have twin daughters whose birthday is in a month."

"I haven't forgotten." Matthew snapped, before taking another deep breath. This wasn't going the way he'd hoped it would. "That didn't answer my question."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm testing recipes. This one is a pecan pie cheesecake."

"Brittany hates cheesecake."

"But Selene loves it. And I've already made Brittany's." She gestured to the counter behind her. "It's cooling on the counter."

It was then that he looked away from her and to the counter. His face flushed when he realized just how obviously placed and noticeable the cake was. "You don't have to make them cakes. You know they're fine with premade ones from the store."

This earned him a glare. "And has that ever stopped me before? No, it hasn't. I understand that they're okay with the ones from the store, but homemade ones are better."

He merely hummed in response. He couldn't disagree with her, but sometimes, he wondered if she insisted on making cakes every year to prove she could be a better parent than hers had been. His eyes wandered around the kitchen, taking in little details so he could see how she'd changed. The dishwasher was running, there was a pot and an ice cream scoop drying in the left side of the sink. There was a box of cheerios on top of the fridge, mixing bowls were stacked on top of the cabinet above the stove and a bag of coffee beans shoved into a corner of the counter. It was fairly clean and tidy, which told him that maybe she hadn't changed quite as much as he'd thought.

She stood suddenly, holding a glass pan up and carefully setting it on the stove. She leaned down again, pushing the metal rack back into the oven before closing and turning it off. He looked at the bubbling topping and frowned. "You didn't cook it in a water bath."

She sent him a death glare. "I don't when there's a topping on the cheesecake. The water bath is mostly just to keep the top from cracking, but if the recipe has a topping, I personally don't really care if it gets cracked and I doubt Selene will care."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Are we done here?" she asked, turning to him as she pulled her oven mitts off and threw them in the drawer.

"Ah.." Matthew backed up, not liking the look in her eye or the tone that continuously told him she was pissed. "I- I mean, if you have things to do."

She rolled her eyes and walked past him into the living room. "No, I don't have things to do. I just don't really want to talk."

He finally started to lose control of his temper. "Well, _excuse me_ for wanting to see someone I care about. I didn't realize my visit would be such an inconvenience for you."

"You said you wanted to see me and you have."

"I meant for more than five minutes!"

"It's been twenty." she snapped, her eyes narrowing. "Unless there's something you want to tell me, I think it's time you left."

He wanted to turn and storm out, even if it was just to see how she reacted. "Actually," he spat, remembering the other part of the reason he'd come over. "I thought I should tell you that the kids don't want to come over this weekend."

"Great, thank you for telling me. Please leave."

"Are you telling me that you don't care that your own children don't want to see you?"

"I'm thanking you for telling me they don't want to come over!" she snarled. "They're old enough to make their own decisions and if they don't want to see me, fine! I can't control them and I'm not going to try to."

He rolled his eyes and turned, going to the front door. "You know what, this was a bad idea. I don't know why I ever thought you'd let go of your pride long enough to actually listen to me. I'm leaving."

"Good riddance." she mumbled as he closed the door behind him. Matthew stormed down to his car, got in, buckled his seatbelt and stopped. His hands were shaking and tears pricked at the back of his eyes. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists around the steering wheel. "Damn it." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the first number he saw. Alfred.

"Hey bro! What's up?"

"Al, I messed up."

That night Alfred watched his brother pace back and forth across the living room. "I just don't know what to do anymore, Al. I can't talk to her without saying something that pisses her off for some reason. She doesn't want to see me, she doesn't care if the kids want to see her or not."

Alfred raised an eyebrow at his twin. "I doubt she doesn't care about the kids. We both know how she is, Mattie. I think you're taking this a little harshly."

Matthew suddenly turned on him and Alfred backed up, slightly terrified that his brother was going to kill him. "Dude, have you been practicing your death glares or something?"

He sighed and looked at his feet. "I'm sorry Alfred. I've just been stressed." He turned and walked over to the couch and flopped dramatically onto it.

Alfred opened his mouth to reply, but felt something tug on his jacket. He looked and was surprised to see Brittany. "Hey kid. What are you doing up?"

"I heard you and dad talking." she mumbled, looking uncharacteristically shy. "I just couldn't sleep." She sent him puppy eyes and gripped his jacket harder. "Will you come tuck me in?"

Alfred stared at his niece for a minute, trying not to call her adorable. Unlike her sister, Brittany regularly acted immature for her age, but no one held it against her. "Sure." He followed her to her room and looked around. Her walls were white with posters plastered all over them. There was a bulletin board hanging over her desk with index cards scrawled with phone numbers and addresses on them and crayon drawings from when she was little. In one corner of the board was a picture of her, Selene, Chris and Matthew at the zoo. The girls looked like they were about ten or eleven. He went over to her bed and waited for her to find a comfortable position before grabbing her comforter off the floor and helping her under it. "Do I want to know why your blanket is always on the floor?"

Brittany shook her head, squirming and tugging at the blanket to get it right. When she'd finally gotten comfortable, she looked up at him her eyes glittering with something that was close to -but not quite- pain. "Are mom and dad still fighting?"

Alfred sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to her. "They got into an argument, yes. But, you don't need to worry about it."

"But," she bit her lip and tears welled up in her eyes. "But why are they always fighting? Did Selene or Chris or I do something?"

His eyes widened and he leaned forward, hugging her tightly. "No. No, sweetheart, it's not your fault. Your parents are just very stubborn and they both have a hard time admitting when they're wrong."

She sniffed and pulled out of the hug, reaching to her nightstand and grabbing a tissue to wipe her nose. "I just.. I miss having them both here. I know they haven't lived together since the first time mom found out she was pregnant, but I remember those few times when I was little that they spent some time together and-" her bottom lip quivered and she stopped, blinking rapidly to stop the tears from spilling over again.

Alfred rubbed her back. "Brittany, you have every right to be upset. You've gone through a lot that you shouldn't have had to go through until you were a lot older. You have a very complicated family and that forces you to deal with a lot of issues that most kids never have to."

She sniffed again and wiped tears off her face. "Will they ever get back together?"

"That depends on them."

She sighed and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders. "I hope they do."

"Don't worry kiddo," he said, hugging her briefly again. "Your parents will come to their senses."

"How do you know?"

"Hey, I got your parents together once. I can do it again."

"Promise?"

"Promise."


	4. Chapter 4

Alfred took a deep breath and knocked on the door, the sound echoing hollowly back to him as he stood on the porch. A few minutes passed and he frowned, knocking again. The door creaked open, slowly revealing the blonde hermit he'd come to see. "Hey dudette!"

Maddy's eyes narrowed at him and she remained silent, her gaze burning into him. Finally, she sighed. "What do you want Alfred?"

His eyes widened slightly. He'd thought that maybe Matthew had been kidding or over exaggerating just how much venom dripped from her tone, but she sounded like she truly hated him. Instinctively, he backed up, raising an arm to shield his face in case she pounced. It wouldn't be the first time. No matter how many times they talked or how often Matthew had assured him that she wouldn't murder him, Maddy always found some way to make the personification of the United States uncomfortable.

She rolled her eyes. "Alfred, tell me what you want or leave. I'm really not in the mood to deal with your shenanigans today."

"I just want to talk." he muttered, forcing himself to relax.

"What makes you think I want to talk?" she snapped, her eyes glowing as the sunlight hit them. "Do you have any idea what today is?"

Alfred stopped, wondering why the date would put her in such a bad mood. It was a monday, true, but she usually didn't threaten to go on a killing spree because of mondays. _Maybe she's on her period?_ Even that usually wasn't enough to make her threaten his life though. He flipped through his mental calendar and the few dates he actually had engraved into his memory and suddenly, it clicked. "Oh.. Dudette, I didn't mean to-"

She slammed the door in his face. He stood there for a minute, the full weight of what day it was finally sinking in. Shaking, he opened the door and walked in. There were few lights on and the closed curtains did nothing to help the lack of lighting. He looked around then went up the stairs and began checking rooms. He found her curled in a ball on the floor of the closet in what he assumed was her bedroom. He carefully stepped over a pile of clothes on the floor and stood in front of her. "Do you want to-"

"Go away." she muttered, furiously wiping the tears off her face.

He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. It seemed that was enough for the moment, but he refused to look at her, giving himself time to come up with what to say. He wasn't really one for emotional conversations and talking about his feelings. He couldn't actually remember the last time he'd let himself talk to someone about his own feelings. Well, that wasn't true. He could remember the last time he'd talked to someone about his feelings and allowed someone to see past his 'hero' facade. It had been after the girls had first gotten there. "Talk less, listen more." Brittany had told him. It was funny, how sometimes he could go for days without breaking down at the memory of his sidekick and other times, one thing reminded him of her and he would have to spend the rest of the day alone so no one would see him cry.

"It hurts Al."

Alfred hugged her tighter and closed his eyes, hoping he wouldn't start crying too. "I know." He wondered just how much she was hurting. If losing Brittany had affected him, Arthur and probably Lukas as badly as it had, then how bad was it for her? The two had known each other for years and had practically been sisters.

"Can you believe it's been twenty years? Sometimes, I look at old pictures or I wake up and think no time has passed and I'm going to go downstairs and she'll be there." Maddy paused and blinked rapidly to keep the second onslaught of tears at bay. "But she never is. I go downstairs or I go out and reality sets in again. I couldn't protect her Alfred. I promised myself I would. I always said that I'd be there for her no matter what, but I- I couldn't. I wasn't there when she needed me most and she got shoved off a roof because of it."

"That wasn't your fault." Alfred snapped, suddenly feeling guilty. "I was the one who suggested that we split the two of you up."

"I remember." she muttered in a cold voice, her eyes darkening. "I remember everything about it. She promised me she wouldn't die and if I had gone with her, maybe she wouldn't have."

"Stop. None of that was your fault. You didn't suggest splitting up, you didn't push her off that roof. Nothing that happened was your fault. You put yourself in danger trying to keep the two of you from being separated. Do you remember that?"

She looked away, not wanting to admit that although she _did_ remember, that didn't make her feel better. She's fought him when he'd suggested they split up, yes, but not for very long. Plus, thinking about it made her remember how things used to be between her and Matthew and _that_ wasn't something she enjoyed recalling. After a minute, she realized Alfred was looking at her expectantly, most likely waiting for her to respond. Her mind began racing and she desperately tried to come up with something to say. Realizing she no longer wanted to linger on this topic, she did was she was best at. She stood and changed the subject, "You know... I heard about this haunted house. It could be fun."

Alfred gaped at her, his annoyance raising. She was doing what she always did. Changing the subject, diverting the attention away from herself and pretending the problem had been resolved. She was changing the subject, but more specifically... running away. Finally, he forced himself out of his train of thought and raised an eyebrow at her. "A haunted house?"

She nodded. "Yeah and I heard this one doesn't have any ghosts."

 _She remembered that?_ "All haunted houses have ghosts."

"Well... okay, I'm sure it has ghosts but there aren't supposed to be a lot of them."

He thought about calling her out on her act, making her realize that he knew what she was doing, but he stopped. She was smiling a little too widely and her hands were shaking. His resolve faded and he sighed, knowing he wasn't getting out of this, even if it was only because he didn't want to push her. "Alright."

"Really?"

He nodded, pushing his fingers through his hair and got up. "I'll be downstairs." He walked out of the closet and made his way downstairs, flopping onto the couch. A few minutes later -much sooner than he'd been expecting- Maddy came down the stairs, putting her hair in a ponytail. He raised an eyebrow at her again. "Done already?"

She sent him a confused look as she grabbed her keys off the desk. "I didn't have that much to do." She grabbed her sneakers and came over to the couch, sitting down before putting them on. As she laced them up, she brushed her bangs out of her face and stood again. "Shall we?"

He stood as well and followed her to the front door, willingly being ushered out the door as she locked it and paused, checking her pockets. Satisfied that she had everything, she closed the door and followed him down the driveway. He stopped at her car and waited for her to unlock it. She clicked the button on her remote and got in the driver's side, reaching up to adjust the rearview mirror slightly. The car was started as he got his seatbelt on and the radio came on, _Eye of the Tiger_ leaking through the static. The haunted house was a short drive away, but they didn't talk and instead sat, listening to the music in a way that somehow managed to become uncomfortable.

 _This was such a bad idea. Why did I let her talk me into this?_ Alfred turned and looked around, searching for both the ghosts who'd chased him down the hallway and Maddy, who'd run away screaming when they'd gone into a room full of clowns. Something cold brushed his hand and he jerked it away, holding said appendage protectively against his side. "Oh god…" he looked around again, his heart pounding.

"Alfred!" Fingers closed around his wrist and he jumped. "Calm down! It's just me."

He sent the blonde a look that was a mix of relief and anger. "Where have you been? Clowns aren't that scary! They're just people in costumes!"

"So are the ghosts, but I don't see you standing up to them!" she snapped, releasing his wrist and planting her hands on her hips. Her voice was laced with fear and her eyes darted back and forth. A ghost dropped down between them and Alfred screamed, jumping back. It grinned devilishly at him with a wide, crooked mouth and squinty, glowing eyes. He ducked under it and clung to Maddy, his eyes squeezed shut. "Al! It's a glow in the dark sheet on a wire! Let go!" He shook his head and tightened his grip on her. "Alfred F. Jones, you're not a koala! Let go of me!"

The blonde sighed and resigned herself to being trapped in a bone-crushing hug until they got out of here. Unfortunately, she had never really had a good sense of direction and this haunted house was more maze-like than any she'd been in before. _Looks like we're going to be trapped here awhile._ Cold fingers gripped her shoulder, she felt breath on her neck and she rolled her eyes. "Al, that's not funny."

"I'm not doing anything." he mumbled, his face still buried in her shoulder. "It's probably another one of those clowns. Or," he looked at her. "Maybe it's a clown spider hybrid."

Alfred felt more than saw her shudder before she glared at him. "Don't even joke about that." she looked around, before prying him off her. "We should keep moving."

They went down the hallway, more shuffling along than actually walking and both keeping a wary eye out in case something jumped out at them. Another ghost dropped down and Alfred took off, screaming so much that it seemed like he should've lost his voice already. Maddy rolled her eyes and began jogging after him, picking up her pace as the cold fingers and the feeling that she was being watched came back.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into that." Alfred muttered, getting into the passenger seat and rubbing his arms. He kept a wary eye on the entrance to the house, in case some ghoul had decided to follow them out.

"I can't either." Maddy replied, starting the car. She kept glancing back at the house as well, but not out of fear of the ghosts. Chills crawled up her spine and she looked around, wishing that she didn't feel thousands of eyes on her. Alfred watched her, concern sending his heartbeat into a frenzy, even though the adrenaline was fading. She blinked and looked at her white knuckled hands on the steering wheel for a minute. He reached over and gently patted her shoulder. She seemed really out of it and he wasn't sure if it was a good time for her to get inside her own head.

"Do you think Brittany would've had fun?" he asked, mostly to break the silence and bring the blonde back to reality.

She scoffed at him, releasing the brake and allowing the car to roll forward. "No. She hated haunted houses. There wouldn't have been a way for us to get her inside, never mind, how she'd be afterward. Do you remember how she was after you took her into that haunted house at the amusement park?"

Alfred looked away, the memory bringing up things he didn't want to think about right then. "That did kind of mess her up."

"Kind of?" The car rolled out of the parking lot and the two blondes fell into silence again. It wasn't until they'd gotten to Maddy's house that they spoke again. "Not to be rude, Al, but I've got some stuff to do."

"No, it's fine, dudette. I've got some things I need to do anyway." He got out of the car, going over to his own. "See ya!"

Maddy waved at him from her own car, waiting until he'd left to get out. She sighed and went inside, turning the lights in the house off as she went about. It wasn't until she was standing in absolute darkness that she allowed the tears to fall. "Damn it." Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and she sat down, resting her chin on her knees. She hadn't been planning on going anywhere today, certainly not with Alfred. Her hands were shaking and she balled them up in her shirt, hoping they'd stop. After a while, she got up and stumbled to her bed, where she laid down and stared at the ceiling for about an hour before falling asleep.

 **pinkittwice54: XD. Yes, he probably is doomed. I'm glad you approve, I'm honestly very worried about how this story will turn out. I've got lots of ideas floating around. Yes, your character being MIA will become a very prominent issue throughout the story.**


	5. Chapter 5

"But I don't _want_ your knees!" Chris whined to his mother as he followed her to the bathroom. Maddy sent her son an annoyed look. She had a very low tolerance for whining and her children were usually pretty good about it. Chris missed a step and hurried to right himself before his mother could notice that he'd almost tripped. Maddy, however, had already noticed and decided to ignore it. His pride was fragile enough without her commenting on his clumsiness. It wasn't like she was any better.

"Do you think _I_ want my knees?" she asked, pulling a green plastic bottle out of the medicine cabinet. She hated having her knees. They just randomly started hurting and it was usually the right one that started first. It was worse when it was cold. Which was pretty much all the time in Canada. "Fricking genetics." she muttered, twisting the pill bottle cap off.

"But I'm only thirteen!" Chris replied, careful to keep the whine he could feel rising in his throat down. He didn't want his mother to look at him like that again. "Your knees only started hurting…" he stopped, trying to remember the first time his mother had complained about her knees. "Recently.."

She shook her head. "Actually, my knees started hurting like this when I was about.. sixteen."

That made him stop. _Sixteen? But that means.._ "Mom, your knees have been like that for twenty three years?"

She nodded and shook two of the off white pills into her palm. "You can blame your grandmother for that." Closing the lid with a snap, she handed him the pills. "Take these with food."

"You're giving me your prescription!?" Chris practically squeaked out in horror and confusion, his wide eyes locked on the capsules in his hand.

Maddy sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "It's not strictly prescription medication. You can buy bottles of these pills in the medicinal aisle at the store."

"Oh.. Thank you." he turned and left the bathroom, clenching the pills in his fist and wondering where Brittany had wandered off to. The last he'd seen of his sister was when she'd announced that she was going outside and Bell had rolled her eyes. This, of course, had lead to the two of them fighting and trying to claw each other's eyes out. Sev had grabbed Bell and locked her in her room while Selene had dragged Brittany outside. Chris had been left alone, but he'd managed to entertain himself for a little bit by drawing.

"Mom!"

Chris heard his mother coming down the stairs and sat on the couch, picking up his sketchbook and adding a few more touches to the drawing. He darkened the color around the eyes, hoping to give the sketch the sinister look he was going for.

"Mom!"

Maddy sighed and came into the living room, going to the front door. Before she could go outside though, Brittany and Selene came barreling in the house, sending wary glances over their shoulders. Brittany tripped over a discarded shoe and was sent flying. Maddy grabbed her daughter's shoulder to keep her upright and closed a hand around Selene's arm to keep her from falling as well. "What is it, you two? You sound like a pair of baby birds, squawking for me like that."

"There's a man outside!" Brittany replied, stepping back until her mother's hold on her shoulders was broken.

Maddy didn't even try to resist rolling her eyes this time. "There are _always_ men outside, dear. Men are going to be pretty much everywhere you go. Females aren't the only creatures on the planet."

"No mom, he's creepy!" Brittany practically yelled, as her mother brushed dirt off of her shoulder and grumbled about having just washed the shirt. "He looks like dad!"

That made their mother stop fussing with Brittany's shirt. "What?"

Brittany fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Well... he sort of looks like dad. Only, a bit more.." she looked to her twin. "How would you describe him?"

"Sinister? Cocky?" Selene provided nonchalantly, chewing on her fingernail. "Like a thug? His hair is longer and he's wearing sunglasses and- Mom, are you okay?"

She wasn't okay. Maddy was trembling, partially with fear and partially anger. The only man she knew who looked like Matthew, but wasn't... She suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to hide under a blanket, like she'd done when she was little and thought things like that worked. Finally, after a few minutes and shaking uncontrollably and fighting the desire to hide like a child, she took a deep breath. "Brittany, take your brother and go to your room. Lock the door and don't come out until I come to get you."

"But mom-"

"Now." Her tone left no room for argument and Brittany grabbed Chris from the couch before dragging him up the stairs.

"Mom? He's dangerous, isn't he?" Selene said hesitantly, watching her mother carefully.

Maddy nodded. "Very. He's the reason your aunt d-" her breath caught in her throat and she stopped, unable to say that awful word. "...Isn't here."

Selene watched her mother's face, red eyes searching out any twitch or detail that would tell her what was going on in her mother's mind. "I'll go let Sev and Bell know not to come out for a bit."

"You need to stay in your room too." the blonde said quickly, her eyes suddenly narrowing at her daughter.

"I know, mom. Don't worry." the albino smiled at her mother, hoping it was enough reassurance, then turned and went up the stairs, stopping at the top. She waited until she'd heard the front door close to sneak back down the stairs and peeked through the window. The man who looked like her father saw her and smirked at her. She ducked back out of sight before her mother could see her and went to her room.

Outside, the two blondes stared each other down, one full of anger and the other grinning lazily. "What the hell are you doing here Michael?"

He flinched both at her tone and the name. "Now beauty, before we go any further, you should know that 'michael' isn't actually my name."

Maddy rolled her eyes. She'd had a hunch that he'd been using a fake name all these years, but in this instance, she wished she'd been wrong. "What is it then?"

"James."

Her eye twitched. _Note to self: never give a character the name james again._ "Tell me what you want or leave." She snarled, trying to give off the impression that she wasn't terrified and would kill him if he didn't listen to her. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly as easily scared as Alfred and simply rolled his eyes at her.

"And what will you do to me if I don't leave, girlie?"

She scowled at him. "Being in the dark is worse than knowing."

"So nothing." he concluded with another smirk. "You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to scare me."

Her nails were digging into her palms, but she ignored the sting and glared at him. "Get off my property."

"So where's loverboy?" James asked, his eyes briefly flickering to the front door. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's not here. Isn't that right?"

"Why would he be?" Maddy snapped, before she could help it. "Now, get away from my house."

He chuckled. "Alright girlie. If that's what you want." That damned smirk of his came back and he turned away from her, walking down the driveway. "I guess I'll see you later _Princess."_

She rolled her eyes and went inside, locking the door behind her. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she scrolled through her messages until she came to the last time she'd texted Matthew. _It's been a month and a half? Wow._ She pushed the thought out of her mind and typed out a quick message, hitting send and going upstairs. Maybe if she made lunch, she could take her mind off everything.

"Is anyone hungry?"

Bodies immediately launched themselves out of their rooms, clinging to her like koalas. She surveyed the children currently clutching her arms. Brittany- she was a lot like her uncle, always hungry. Chris- he pretty much just followed Brittany's lead. Bell- she was currently glaring daggers at her siblings, but that was normal.

Sev walked out of Selene's room, dragging her along behind him. "You haven't eaten in a awhile. Come eat."

Selene however, wasn't making it easy for her older brother to drag her into the hall. "I said no."

Maddy shook her head and began her trek to the kitchen. "Who wants what?"

"Pasta!" the children chorused.

The chant not only reminded her of Feli, but also set her on edge. The five of them usually couldn't agree on anything. She sent each of them a confused look. "Really?"

They all nodded eagerly and she shrugged. "If that's really what you want." She grabbed a pot, one of the multiple strainers that were stashed around the kitchen and sighed. "If you want me to cook, you're going to have to get off me."

Brittany, Chris and Abelia scrambled off their mother and joined their siblings in the hall. Maddy put the pot under the faucet in the sink and turned the water on, turning to the cabinets to get the pasta sauce, salt and various other spices down. "Don't tell your father I use pre made sauce." she told her brunette children, meeting their bright green eyes.

Bell made a gesture like she was zipping her mouth closed and Sev shook his head. Chris was staring quizzically at them ,his eyes narrowed. "Hey mom."

The blonde turned to her youngest son. "Hm?"

"Why does Bell have two different colored eyes?"

Abelia glared at him, before hiding behind Severus, closing her eyes and covering them with her hands. She was self-conscious about them and it didn't help when someone pointed them out.

"It's because she has heterochromia." She turned the faucet off and put the pot on the stove. Adding salt to the water, she grabbed a metal pasta ladle and the spaghetti from the cabinet. "It has to do with the amount of melanin in each iris."

"Is it contagious?"

The pasta ladle clattered to the stove and she stared at her son in both surprise and anger. "Christopher Flynn Williams! What kind of question is that? Of course, it's not contagious! It's not a disease!"

Chris backed up, sensing his mother's fury. The other children looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and annoyance. They all knew not to invoke their mother's wrath and he had just done it in the worst possible way.

"Go to your room."

"But-"

"Now!"

He shot up the stairs like a rocket, chills going up and down his spine. Slamming the door, he sat on his bed and sulked. It wasn't fair! He'd asked a perfectly valid question. He almost wished his mother had blown up at him instead of sending him to his room. Having her scream at him for a few minutes was better than sitting up here, waiting for her to come up with his punishment. He didn't make his mother mad very often, but when he did, his punishment was cruelly specific and carefully tailored to fit whatever he'd done. All her punishments were, due to the fact that his mother had a very dark mind and as his father put it, "spent too much time in her own head."

 _I guess that's what I get for having a writer as a mother though._

He sighed and laid down, closing his eyes in the hope that a nap might delay his torment.

 **pinkittwice54: I didn't think I made the chapter that heartbreaking. I'm sorry.**


	6. flashback

_Name your son._

That's when he'd known it was over. That was when he'd known the fragile friendship they'd built had been smashed and was never going to be the same. His hand was shaking and he could barely see the screen of his phone. His jaw was clenched so hard that his teeth were starting to hurt. Part of his brain was still trying to process that he was a _father_ now. All because of some idiots performing some stupid spell. He'd known for months that the child was his, but it hadn't sunk in until just now.

The other part of his brain was searching for a name and it kept going back to the roman emperors. He sighed and typed out the name, his fingers icy cold. _Severus._

He hit send and stumbled to his couch. Flopping down, he cradled his head in his hands. He, Lovino Vargas, was officially a father. The thought almost made him laugh. Almost. Too bad this wasn't some messed up dream. No, this was real. A spell had gotten a person he thought of as a friend and nothing more pregnant and he still didn't know why the spell had chosen him as the father, but it had.

Suddenly, something occurred to him and he sat up, frantically dialing her number. The phone rang. And rang and rang... On the fourth or fifth ring, she picked up. "Hello?" Her voice was groggy and he felt bad for waking her up, but this was important.

"Are you in the hospital?"

"Vha- non. Lovino, I'm not in a hospital. Why?"

He realized what that meant and he barely kept himself from cursing her. "Why not?"

"When you live alone and you go into labor at three in the morning, it's a little late for the hospital."

"So you- you- labor in-" He couldn't finish his sentence. He'd meant to call her and chew her out for not letting him know she was in the hospital, but now that he knew she wasn't even _in_ one. His brain was still attempting to process that.

"Yeah, it hurt like hell." Not only did she now sound more awake, she also sounded way too calm about this. Like she gave birth everyday. "Lovi, Severus and I are fine. Please stop being so melodramatic."

He slumped back down with his eyes closed, knowing he'd already lost this argument. How could she be so calm about this? Finally, he sighed and opened his eyes. "Alright."

"You okay?"

"Fine." he snapped, his eyes focused on a single spot on the wall across from him. "I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

 _Damn it._ She knew him too well, despite the fact that they hadn't been friends very long. "I'm fine." he repeated, hoping that this time he sounded a little more believable.

Maddy sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get him to admit he _wasn't_ fine. Fine, if he wanted to bottle up his emotions and not talk to her honestly, fine. "Can his middle name be Xavier?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, gently wrapping a blanket around Severus. Already the maternal instinct was kicking in and she'd already spent a good half an hour simply staring at him, smiling like an idiot. "Can Sev's middle name be Xavier?"

"Why xavier?"

"You got to pick his first name." she replied, her voice coming out more bitter and angry than she'd meant for it to.

Lovino sighed in exasperation. "Fine."

"Lovi... I think he should live with you."

"What? Why?"

She yawned, her jaw cracking. "I just think it'd be better if he lived with you."

"But _why?"_ He didn't mind the idea of his son living with him, he just wanted to know why she disliked the idea of Sev living with her.

"Lovi, please. It would just be better if he lived with you." her voice cracked and she brushed a few stray tears away, her heart already aching at the idea of losing her son. _It wouldn't really be losing him, just giving him the best chance._ Even with the "pep talk," it still hurt. "If he lives with you, he might not get caught in the middle of all this drama. He wouldn't be as messed up. Just.. please."

He sighed. "Fine, but he's coming to visit you on the weekends. I'm not going to let him grow up without his mother."

She blinked rapidly to keep the tears away. _Stupid hormones._ "Fine."

"Are you okay?"

"Vhat?"

Lovino flinched at the german accent. He'd learned to accept that she got that accent when she was confused or tired. "Are you okay?" he repeated. Even though they didn't talk as much anymore, he still worried. _Isn't that what friends do?_

"I'm.." she stopped, watching Severus again. A small smile had spread across his chubby little cheeks and her own idiotic smile returned, bigger and more genuine than before. "He's so cute!"

"What?"

She blushed, her face turning tomato red. Her only consolation was that Lovino wasn't there in person, meaning he couldn't see. "He smiled in his sleep. It was cute."

Lovino felt himself caught between wanting to smile and wanting to roll his eyes. "Do you want me to come and get him?"

"Won't that take a few days?"

He nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see him. "Obviously. That will give me time to get a room ready."

She yawned again, but her attention was still drawn to the squirming child she was currently keeping away from the edge of her bed. "Sounds good." Severus opened his eyes, briefly squinting against the bright light. "Good morning little one. You caused your mama quite a bit of pain, y'know."

He started wailing and she got up, cradling him against her chest and slightly bouncing him up and down. "Lovi, I've got to go."

"Wait!"

She stopped, the expression that he couldn't see telling him to hurry up and say whatever it was that he wanted to say. "What?"

"What does he look like?"

She blinked, not expecting the tremor in his voice. She stayed silent for a moment, chewing her bottom lip. "He looks like you."

Lovino was still processing that when the line went dead. After a few minutes, he stood up and went upstairs. There was already a crib and a dresser in the guest bedroom. He'd have to get more furniture than he'd originally planned, but that was okay. He started planning his trip and formed a mental list of the stuff he'd need to get at the store. He was pretty sure he could handle this. Raising a kid couldn't be that bad, right? It'd be fine.

He sure as hell hoped it would be.

 **pinkittwice54: yeah... hopefully no one dies.**


	7. Chapter 7

This wasn't real.

She kept telling herself that, but the vision wouldn't stop and this one was much more vivid than usual. Blood dripped from the ceiling, splattering on her arm and a giant spider had made its home in the middle of her bed. She was currently huddled on top of her dresser trying to avoid the arachnid. She hated spiders with a burning passion.

It kept staring at her with those beady little eyes and she flinched as its pinchers clicked, sensing her fear. She suddenly wished she could have one of her more normal visions. Those were just psychologically scarring. Ones like this made her seize up with fear until whatever monster her imagination had cooked up killed her, the walls stopped bleeding or she screamed herself hoarse and passed out from exhaustion.

The spider stretched a leg out and she gasped, trying to shove herself farther away from it, only for her progress to come to an abrupt halt. The wall blocked her path and she whimpered. The arachnid clacked its pinchers at her again, causing her to bury her head in her knees and clamp her hands over her ears. A sudden childish logic flicked in her mind and she chuckled, the crazed laugh pulled out of her by her hysteria.

 _If I can't see it, it can't see me._

More clicks proved her logic wrong and she curled into a tighter ball. _This isn't real. We can handle this. It's not real._ She looked up and tried not to scream. The spider had scuttled off the bed and was making its way over to her. She trembled, her heart hammering against her ribs. If this were a normal spider, not one of her demented imagination creations, she would've just crushed it with a shoe. Unfortunately, this spider was much too big for that.

Footsteps came up the stairs and the spider stopped, staring at the door. Hissing its displeasure as the footsteps stopped outside the door, it moved toward her faster. This time, she couldn't help it. She screamed and threw the coffee mug she'd left there that morning at it. The ceramic simply bounced off its head and shattered on the floor. This seemed to only enrage the spider further and she whimpered, trying to flatten herself against the wall.

The door burst open and more footsteps pounded up the stairs. The spider froze and narrowed all eight of its eyes at the intruder. The blonde realized she should probably look over, to make sure this wasn't some new threat, but her attention was solely on the giant thing that was intent on eating her. More bodies crowded in the doorway and the spider hissed threateningly at them. When none of them reacted, it turned its attention back to her, advancing toward her again.

Feet scrambling for purchase on the slick wood, she pushed herself to the side to avoid the creature. The edge came sooner than she expected and her only clue that it was there before she fell was her hand meeting with empty air instead of more wood. In her panic however, this fact didn't register in her mind and she continued to shove herself away from the spider. She tumbled over the edge, her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the impact. When it came, it wasn't nearly as painful as she'd been expected and she cracked one eye open, meeting the gaze of... "Gilbert..?"

He cradled her in his arms, looking at the spider, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Frau, vhat are you doing? Vhy vere you screaming like zhat?"

Her dignity gone, she pointed a shaky hand to the beady gaze of the enraged arachnid. "The spider, Gil. It.. was after me."

He looked to where she was pointing, a confused expression on his face until understanding lit up his eyes. "I see. Vell, it von't hurt you now zhat I'm here."

She stared at him suspiciously. "Tell me something only you would know."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Seriously frau?" Her cold glare told him that not only was she completely serious, but also that he needed to prove he was real or she was going to lose her mind. He sighed and looked up to the ceiling "Um... everyone thought I was dead after I vent after to Arthur's and ate some of his food. Francis thought zhat I vas a monster after I voke up."

Maddy snickered at this. She'd yet to hear about this incident but was now curious. She'd pry him for details later. Turning her attention back to the spider, she watched as it hissed one last time then disappeared.

"Hey."

She looked up at Gilbert again, her eyes wide and questioning.

"It's not real." He was trying to convince both of them, she could tell. Gilbert watched her warily, waiting for her to agree with him. Despite their disastrous first meeting, they were actually friends now and he knew what it was like to have your mind be your worst enemy.

She nodded, then realized that he was still holding her. "Um, Gil, could you put me down?"

His eyes widened and he cleared his throat loudly. "Right." He set her on her feet and she looked around the room, watching the blood and spiderwebs fade. Finally looking over to her bedroom door, she recognized Antonio and Francis, wondering silently what they were doing here. Realizing they were all waiting for her to say something, she smiled. "Hi."

"Cheri, are you okay?" Francis asked. That was when she knew she wasn't hallucinating anymore. He was never concerned about her when she lost it. He was always angry or cold, more like his 2p than himself. But no, this was real. He was currently watching her with an expression that was a mixture of concern and... fear? Maybe for her, maybe for himself, but it was still there.

She forced herself out of her train of thought and nodded. "I'm fine now." Her voice was rough and gravelly. She wondered how long she'd been crouched on her dresser, staring in fear at something that wasn't even there. No wonder the doctors thought she was crazy. Hell, at this point, she probably was.

"Are you sure Chica? You look a little pale."

She bit back the scathing remark that sprang to her mind and sighed. "That's just my face Antonio. Have you forgotten I'm part albino?"

He sent her a smile that was supposed to be charismatic and alluring, but she'd long ago become immune to his "charms." "Of course not Chica. I meant that you look paler than normal." He was fighting not to slip into the habit of speaking in his native tongue, but she couldn't understand spanish and she looked like she was either going to kill him or die if he did. The three men stared at her with worry, wondering silently how long she'd been freaking out and paralyzed atop her dresser. Based on her attire of sweatpants and a loose shirt, it was safe to assume it'd been fairly soon after she'd woken up that the hallucination started.

"Cheri?"

She looked to her almost father-in-law again. "Hm?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" He hated that she never talked to him anymore. True, they hadn't talked as much as they should have before the children and the spell, but now she flat out refused to talk him under any circumstance. Today was a strange day for them both, as he was surprised she'd agreed to spend the day with the BTT and she was still struggling to put herself into their lives again.

Maddy nodded and waved a hand dismissively. "I'm okay, just a bit shaken up. I'll be fine. It's not like this is the first hallucination." She laughed nervously as she recalled the first time she'd hallucinated. That had been a disaster. Sev had been the one to find her shaking and screaming form, hiding from what he perceived to be nothing but empty air and what she saw full of monsters and demons. Mama's boy that he was, he'd tried to help, only to run to Lovino a few minutes later when nothing he did could bring her out of it. She'd been rushed to the hospital after falling down the stairs, trying to get away from a particularly persistent thing that looked like a mix between a spider and a goblin. The doctors decided that the incident had been a result of PTSD mixed with schizophrenia. They couldn't explain why it had suddenly manifested, (though no one who was close to her was surprised it had) and had prescribed medication. That was the end of the hospital's role in the matter.

Now she had random moments of panic and visions would assault her when she least expected it. _You'd think after five years, I'd be able to handle the visions better._

"Chica?"

Her gaze sharpened and she looked at Antonio. "I'm sorry, I was thinking."

He smiled nervously. "It's fine, chica."

Francis moved toward her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Cheri, you should get dressed so we can go."

"Right." She stepped away from him and ushered them out of the room. "I'm not changing with the three of you in here. Git."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "If it would make you feel better, you can sit at the top of the stairs so you're close in case I lose it again. Just get out." Once they'd been herded out the door and it had been shut, she sighed and went to the closet. Outings with the three of them were hard. Even though one their own, each of them could be loud and obnoxious, it seemed to get worse when they were together. She searched her closet for an outfit that would be acceptable before giving up and going with her default. Jeans, a shirt, sneakers. Comfortable and functional. Not as comfortable as sweatpants, but she knew she wouldn't be let out of the house if she tried to wear those today. She changed into her jeans and pulled a flannel shirt out of the closet, rubbing the material between her thumb and forefinger as she closed the door and pulled the shirt over her head. She went to the bathroom, brushing her hair rather harshly. She could hear it ripping small chunks of hair out, but ignored both the stinging sensation and the lecture she could hear in her head. _Cheri, you should really take better care of your 'air. This is why it's so frizzy and uncontrollable._

She rolled her eyes even though Francis wasn't actually lecturing her. She'd gotten rather good at imagining what he would say if he knew how little she cared about her life anymore. He still acted like her father, like her well-being was his concern. It wasn't, but he didn't seem to understand that. None of them did. They all acted like she needed their help, like she was falling apart and needed to be protected. As she put the brush on the counter, her eyes flicked up to her reflection and her expression soured. "What do you want? You're not real."

Her reflection laughed. "Of course I am." Only it wasn't quite _her_ reflection. Gold eyes with snake-like pupils stared back at her, framed with straight black hair. A smug yet playful grin revealed pointed teeth. "Trust me, I'm real. Just as real as you are. I'm every bit of hate and anger inside you and with every passing day, I grow stronger. You won't be able to control me much longer, you know."

"You're not real." Maddy repeated, her own eyes narrowing. "You're just a figment of my imagination. That's it."

The dark haired girl laughed cruelly and reached out, her arm phasing through the mirror. "I'm as real as you are darling." Her fingers brushed the blonde's cheek and she jerked away, her eyes blazing.

"No," Maddy's hand curled into a fist. "You're not." The last word came out as a hiss and she punched the mirror, the glass shattering on impact. Pain sliced into her knuckles and blood dripped warm and sticky down her hand.

The door burst open and footsteps made their way towards her. Francis appeared in the doorway, only for him to take a step back at her enraged snarl directed at the mirror and the blood. "Cheri?" He forced her to sit on the edge of the tub as he searched the cabinets for bandages. Finding some hydrogen peroxide and bandages, he poured the liquid on her knuckles, ignoring her glare that was still focused on the mirror. She hissed as the peroxide burned her cuts, the bubbles turning pink as they mixed with blood. He quickly rubbed the bloody bubbles off with a towel and bandaged her hand. "What happened?"

"I saw something in the mirror. It's fine." she pulled her hand out of his and refused to look at him. "I'm fine."

"Have you taken your medication yet?"

"No. I haven't eaten yet."

"Cheri.."

"Stop." she turned her glare on him. "I said I'm fine."

"I'm just worried about you." He replied, gently grasping her hand again. "You never ask for help and we're all worried about you. You've been having these hallucinations for five years now and they haven't gotten any better."

She ripped her hand away from him and stood up. "J'ai dit que je suis bon!"

He stood as well and raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't believe that you are."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Why are you trying so hard to protect me? I don't need protection!"

"I'm just worried about you!"

"And I appreciate the concern, but ever since Arthur cast that damn spell on me, you've all been acting like I'm some fragile, delicate thing that you need to be careful with or I'll shatter! I'm not broken or breaking! I'm not crazy and I certainly don't need some petty countries who can't get over things that happened hundreds of years ago to 'protect' me!" She made finger quotes in the air as she said the word "protect."

He recoiled, hurt and anger surging through him like a tidal wave. "Cheri..."

"Don't." she snapped, holding a hand up to stop him. "Just- please leave. I can't handle this if all three of you are going to be like this today. Please just leave."

He sighed and turned away. "Fine." He left the room and after explaining what had happened, he, Antonio and Gilbert all left. The house was back to its usual quietness and Maddy sighed. Leaving the bathroom, she grabbed the orange bottle that held her meds and glared at it. This continued for a few minutes, before she dropped the bottle into the drawer under the sink and closed it, walking away.

 _No Francis, I haven't taken my medication today._ She thought viciously. And she wasn't planning to.

 **pinkittwice54: In my head, they all knew Maddy was pregnant and were actually monitoring her. She just was so stubborn that they eventually gave up trying to help her with the pregnancy and decided to let her do it her way (which clearly wasn't a good idea). Yes, they probably would run around like chickens with their heads cut off and I imagine that that happened during Maddy's later pregnancies, after everyone decided she really shouldn't be alone for them. I don't have anything to say for the umbilical cord because honestly, I didn't think about that detail. As for what James is planning, you'll just have to wait and see. Brittany coming back and not having aged? I like that idea.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Jesus, do you ever shut up?"

James stopped and raised an eyebrow at the blonde across from him. She was glaring at him, but he was used to that. She'd come around eventually. He smirked at her. "Only when I've got what I want girlie."

Maddy rolled her eyes at him. "So basically, you're never going to stop talking."

His smirk only grew wider. "That depends on you."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I regret letting you inside."

"What are you talking about? I'm a joy to be around."

"Egocentric much?"

"Admit it, girlie, you're enjoying having me around." He leaned back in the chair, hoping his charisma would help him get her where he wanted.

"I'm used to you being here, but _enjoying_ it?" she scoffed and shook her head. "No. Being used to something and enjoying it are two very different things."

"Whatever." He sighed and let his chair fall back onto all four legs. The thud reverberated around the room. "By the way, I heard you're going crazy." He twirled his finger near his temple, smirking at her again.

She glared at him again, but he ignored it. "Yes, well, it's your fault."

He leaned back, not surprised by the venom in her voice, but wondering how she could say her going crazy was his fault. "How is it my fault beauty?"

"Thanks to you and your family, I have PTSD and-" She stopped. "Hey! That's none of your business!"

He snickered and leaned back again. "And yet, you don't seem to mind telling me. Am I _that_ trustworthy?"

She scowled at him and went back to her book. "No."

"So, you never told me. What exactly happened between you and loverboy?"

"Would you stop calling him that please? We're not even together anymore."

"I know, but I don't know why and I really want to."

"Why don't you go ask him?" She snapped, her eyes narrowed menacingly at him.

He yawned, knowing it would irk her further than he already had. "Too much effort." As she reached out to hit him, he grabbed her hand and ran a finger over the scars on her knuckles. "Where'd these come from?"

She jerked her hand out of his grasp and held it protectively against her side. "I punched a mirror. Why do you care?"

He opened his mouth to snap back at her, the retort dying in his throat when he noticed how prominent the dark circles under her eyes were. "When was the last time you slept?" This time, his concern wasn't faked to try and get her to like him. No, now, he was genuinely concerned and he leaned forward, brushing hair out her face.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, swatting his hand away. "The last time I slept isn't any of your business! Get away from me!"

He placed a hand against her forehead, his eyes widening. "You have a fever! You need to lay down."

"Would you stop?" She snapped, pushing him away. "I'm fine! And honestly, I don't see how my health is any of your concern!"

Ten minutes later, he'd somehow managed to pin her to the couch and was making soup. He wasn't sure why she was staying on the couch, but he wasn't going to try and move her. Getting her there had been hard enough, he didn't want to try it a second time.

"You're just like him."

He looked out to her. "Excuse me? Who?"

"Matthew."

He bristled. "I am _nothing_ like him."

"Really?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Because he would've reacted the exact same way you did."

"So it's wrong for people to care about you?"

She buried her head in her hands. "God, it doesn't matter which one of you I'm around anymore. I can't handle either one of you."

He rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically, "Pardon me for caring."

"You're pardoned." she sniffed, blowing her nose and throwing the tissue in the trash can he'd put at the foot of the couch.

He rolled his eyes again and shook his head, an amused smile tugging at his lips. "Good to know." Pouring some of the soup into a bowl, he went to the living room. Sitting on the edge of the couch, he held the bowl out to her, confusion settling over him when she stared at something over his shoulder distantly. Realization dawned on him and he put the bowl on the table, reaching out to gently grip her shoulders. "Hey, whatever you're seeing. It's not real."

She pulled away from him and curled into a ball. "My veins are turning to ice."

"What?" Concern washed over him and his smile faltered. "Hey, it's not real. You're fine."

She shook her head. "Ice, that's all I am."

He bit his lip. He wasn't sure how to handle this! "You're not ice. You're living, breathing flesh and blood and bone." He reached forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. "You're fine. It's not real. You're going to be fine." She was trembling, though that may have been because he was too. He grit his teeth, trying to shove the distressed feelings down. Freaking out wasn't going to help. She was covering her face with her hands and he hugged her tighter, wishing he could do more to help, even though he wasn't sure how to.

By the time, she took a shaky breath and said she was fine, her soup had gotten cold. She picked up the spoon and ate it anyway. "C-could you get my medication?"

He practically shot up like a rocket. "Of course! Where is it?"

"Upstairs in the bathroom. It should be in the top drawer beneath the sink."

He nodded, before running up the stairs and searching the bathroom for the medication. Once he found it, he hurried back down the stairs, his heart pounding against his ribs. "Found it! How many do you need?" He twisted the cap off the bottle, ready to dump the pills into his palm.

"Just one." she replied quietly, looking at him expectantly. He shook one into his palm and held it out to her. She took it with a mumbled, "thank you," and swallowed it dry.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously, before looking around. "Will you be okay if I leave?" When she nodded, he made his way over to the door. "I'll see you later then." He left before he could hear her response.

Later that night, James was sitting on his bed, gripping his head and staring at the floor. He jumped when the door slammed open. "Allen?"

"So how'd it go today? Is she madly in love with you yet?" His brother practically sing-songed and plopped on his bed.

"No." James replied, sinking into his sulking again. "After what she's told me, I'm not sure she's going to be 'madly in love' with anyone again."

"What's the point of trying to get her to love you if you're just going to give up?"

"I think I'm getting in too deep Allen. She had a hallucination today."

"Oh? How was it?"

"Awful."

"For who?"

"Both of us. She was shaking and it hurt that I couldn't help her. I think I'm starting to actually care about her Al."

Allen rolled his eyes. "Isn't that the _point?_ If she's going to genuinely care about you, shouldn't you actually care about her?"

"Not like this." James mumbled, sinking lower into his bed. "Not like this at all."

 **I know I just updated earlier, but I wanted to post this chapter because I've had the idea for it floating around for a while and I wanted to get it written while I still had motivation.**


	9. Chapter 9

There were two days every year that made her want to scream, tear her heart out and cry like a baby. The day Brittany had died and the day she'd lost... _him._ Lovino had never known. No one but her and Arthur had ever known about what happened and why the eighth of November killed her every year.

Miscarriage, Arthur called it.

Failure to protect yet another person she cared about, she called it.

He would have been perfect. Or at least, as close as one could get to perfect. The perfect blend of both his parents. Kind when he needed to be, but not a doormat. Strong and bull-headed when someone was trying to take advantage of him, but not cocky or narcissistic.

She'd been planning to name him Damiano. Her reasons had been her own, but Arthur thought it was because she was exploring italian names. She'd simply laughed and decided not to tell him it was because of an italian pastry chef she'd had a stupid school-girl crush on when she was a teenager.

It was worse because she knew exactly what he would've looked like when he was older. Arthur had offered to perform a spell that would show her what he looked like. She'd figured that it couldn't do any harm. She had been so wrong and the knowledge just made her heart ache that much worse. He would've looked a lot like his older brother actually. His hair would've been darker than Sev's and a bit longer. His eyes would've been blue, like hers. She'd asked Arthur why that was, as green eyes was a more dominant trait than blue ones and "Why won't he have Lovi's green eyes?" Arthur had simply shrugged and said he didn't know. Genetics did what they wanted and it was a possibility for a child with one blue eyed parent and one green eyed parent to have blue eyes, though rare.

Arthur had tried to get her to tell Lovino. She'd said she would after she knew Damiano would survive. She'd genuinely thought he would and she'd actually planned on telling everyone. But there were complications. It was genetic, Arthur said and she remembered her mother having problems during her _two_ pregnancies. He'd decided to stay with her, to make sure she was alright. Knowing she wasn't going to change his mind, she'd given up trying and accepted it. At first, it seemed like she was fine. That was until it all came crashing down.

She'd woken up screaming and covered in blood. Arthur had jumped awake and run in to help, to stop it, to do _anything,_ but it was already too late. For the first hour after it happened, she'd been in denial. Her mind kept trying to tell her that this was just a horrible nightmare and that she just needed to wake up. Finally, she couldn't lie to herself anymore and she'd broken down. Arthur had tried to comfort her, but that ended with him holding her while she screamed and cried until she was hoarse, beating her fists against his chest, trying to get him to let go of her. He'd simply readjust his grip and taken it, until she'd cried herself out and collapsed in exhaustion. _He'd be ten now._ She thought, running a finger along the rim of her glass. To anyone who didn't know her well, it'd probably think she was drinking some sort of alcohol, wine maybe. She wasn't, it was just juice in a wine glass because no other glasses were clean and she didn't feel like doing the dishes. She hated wine, hated most alcohol in fact. She despised the taste and what it did to people. There was a knock on the door and she got up, her movements slow like she was trying to walk in molasses. She opened the door, not at all surprised when it revealed Arthur. She didn't even greet him, just gestured for him to come inside and left the doorway so he could.

"Are you drinking wine?" The door closed and he began taking his shoes off. At least he was polite. No one else took their shoes off when they came to visit.

She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see. "No," her voice came out gravelly and rough. "It's juice. There aren't any other clean glasses."

"Oh." Arthur followed her into the living room and sat on the couch as she sank into the dark blue papasan chair she'd gotten the year before. "H-how are you feeling?"

"Same as every year." she replied, staring at him through tired, half open eyes. She realized she should've gone to bed earlier the night before.

Arthur watched her uncomfortable with the silence and the tension. She'd always been quiet, but this was different. He came over every year since he was the only person who knew about Damiano, but every year she seemed more withdrawn and empty. He wondered silently how long it had been since she'd last gone outside. She seemed paler than usual, which was saying a lot for her.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked, regarding him coldly. Her thoughts were raging and she wanted to scream at him. He was acting like her father. Well, not _her_ father, more like a father who actually gave a damn about his child. _Her_ father was a deadbeat who had never wanted a kid in the first place. He nodded and she took another sip of her juice before continuing. "What were you originally trying to do?"

He blinked. "I'm sorry?" He knew exactly what she meant, but he didn't want to talk about it. She was emotional enough, he didn't want to make it worse.

"Don't play dumb with me." she hissed, her eyes narrowed now not because of fatigue, but because of anger. Her voice was cold and her knuckles were white, clenched around her glass. "You know what I mean. What were you doing when your stupid spell got me pregnant?"

He looked at his lap and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I'm not sure I should tell you that."

Her eyes blazed. "I think you should. If it weren't you and your magical buddies, I wouldn't have five children."

"Are you upset about having children or not knowing what we were doing?"

"Don't bring the children into this." she snapped. "No, I'm not upset about having them. I love them."

He hesitated, fighting with himself silently. He supposed she deserved to know, after everything that had happened, but what if the information just made her mental health worse? Finally, he sighed and looked at her. "We were trying to bring Brittany back."

Her breath caught in her throat and she stared at him in shock. Her mind raced, trying desperately to process this new information. Her sat her glass down, her hands shaking and clenched them into fists. That did nothing, the shaking didn't stop it just wasn't quite as obvious.

"You know, I really think you should tell Lovino."

That snapped her out of her shock and she glared at him. "It's been ten years. You want to tell him that he almost had another son who I lost and you want me to tell him ten years after the fact?"

Arthur crossed his arms. "He deserves to know."

"No. Having Sev and Bell has put enough stress on him. I'm not adding the burden of the knowledge of another child who didn't even survive to his due date."

His eyes narrowed. "This has nothing to do with his stress. You're trying to protect yourself."

"And what have you been doing for twenty years?" she snarled. "We've all wanted to know what the original intent if that spell was and you choose _now_ to tell me?"

"That's different."

"How? Both scenarios have to do with someone's life and how someone else would react. How is it different?"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you."

"She's my best friend Arthur. My sister! I think the person who was closest to her deserves to know about things like that!"

He stayed silent, knowing she wasn't going to back down. If he didn't give her things to argue about, this would be over soon and he could leave.

"And she's Francis' niece. You don't think he should about this?" Her voice was quiet and she wasn't even looking at him anymore. "I know I'm not the only one who misses her. She's actually biologically related to him. Doesn't he deserve to know that you tried to bring his niece back?"

His temper flared up again. "How is that different from you not telling Lovino about Damiano? Shouldn't he know that he almost had another child?"

"I told you that I'd tell him if Damiano survived!" she hissed. "He didn't so I didn't say anything. And I'm not planning to now, not after ten years."

His eyes narrowed. "Fine." He checked his watched and sighed. "I need to leave." He got up, went to the door and put his shoes on. Once they were firmly on his feet, he opened the door and stopped. "Feel better." He walked out before he could hear her response.

She rolled her eyes and picked up her glass again, draining it. Her fingers tapped against her thigh as she tried to come up with something to do. "' _Feel better.'"_ She mocked, lowering her voice to impersonate Arthur. "Yeah, not likely." She pushed herself out of her chair and went to the kitchen. Her argument with Arthur had given her a strange rush of energy and she did the dishes before it could go away. She went upstairs and checked that she had both Brittany and Selene's birthday presents. For Brittany, she'd gotten a leather trenchcoat because she was constantly talking about them. For Selene, she'd gotten the book series _The Lunar Chronicles_ partially because it was a fantastic series and partially because it had been part of the reason she'd chosen the name for her albino daughter.

Her hand had gone to her flat stomach and she glanced down, pulling out the photo Arthur had made of the older version of Damiano. Tears welled up in her eyes again and she held the photo to her chest. "I'm sorry baby. I'm sorry I wasn't a good mother to you."


	10. flashback II

"You know what would be fantastic, Al? If you would stop running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and take me to the hospital!" Maddy crossed her arms and glared at the blond, who was ignoring her and continued to run around the house screaming. He eyes narrowed at him as he froze in the living room and clenched his fists in his hair. "Alfred F. Jones!"

He looked at her, his eyes wide. "I'm not ready to be a father."

She facepalmed so hard, the sound echoed throughout the house and there was a mark on her forehead. "You're not going to be a father! You're going to be an uncle! Now come on! I don't want to give birth without pain medication again. Once was enough for me."

"But what if they don't like me?"

She stopped, staring at him in shock and annoyance. "You're worried that they won't like you? They haven't been born yet! Can I give birth to them before we figure out if they're going to like you or not?"

"They're not even due for another three weeks!"

"Twins are usually premature! Can we go?" She just wanted to get to the hospital and give birth, damn it! He was ignoring her again, basically having an existential crisis on the floor. _Oh my god, I am going to murder you._ "Alfred! If you don't get up right now, I'm going to drive myself to the hospital!"

"No." Alfred sat up and gathered a bag of baby supplies he thought might be needed and herded the annoyed and inflicted blonde out to the car. He did _not_ want to get a lecture from his brother about this if she had to drive herself to the hospital. He knew it wouldn't end well for him and if something happened to any of the three people he was now responsible for? He would be dead. The drive was quiet, but gradually got tense and more worrisome as the pain worsened. By the time they got there, Maddy was holding back tears and Alfred refused to let her walk. That dried whatever tears she may have cried right then real fast. "Alfred, put me down! I can walk!" Turns out she couldn't walk on her own. This seemed to piss her off more than him losing his mind when she'd gotten her first contraction. The doctors came, took her down a pristine white hallway and directed him to a waiting room. There was already a crowd of people clustered in the corner closest to the hallway. Severus ran up to him. "Hey kid."

"Is momma okay?" The child's eyes were glued to the door they'd taken his mother through.

Alfred ruffled his hair. "Your mom's gonna be fine. She's tough and the doctors will take care of her."

The brunette boy didn't look convinced, but Alfred led him back to the group and his father. He looked around, noting that Francis, Lovino and Severus were already there. That made sense, since they'd been close to the hospital anyway. He'd decided not to ask when he'd called them to let them know what was happened and they'd told they were close. He just needed to know one thing- where was Matthew? It was his children that were about to be born, where was he? Alfred felt a tap on his shoulder and whipped around to face his twin. "Hey Mattie!"

Matthew rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Traffic was awful. Have you heard anything from the doctors?"

Alfred shook his head and they sat down, waiting for seemed like an eternity. Turns out, it was only about six hours before the doctor was waking them all up with a jolt. Well, everyone except Sev and Francis. According to the frenchman, the poor child had been too worried about his mother to sleep and the blond hadn't wanted to leave the child unsupervised. The doctor led the five of them to the room containing the woman they were all worried about and stepped out, telling them not to get too riled up. Sev finally released his vice-like grip on his father's leg and rushed over to his mother. The blonde looked at him and gave him a tired smile. "Hey little man. Look who's a big brother now."

Severus clambered onto the bed and held one of the babies, his eyes wide with wonder. "She's so tiny."

"You look... tired." Alfred said, raising an eyebrow at his newborn nieces.

This comment earned him a pillow in the face. "How about you give birth to twins and let's see how you look." Maddy snapped, glaring at him despite how tired she was. She went to lean back, but realized that the pillow she'd just chucked at Alfred's head had been there for a reason that wasn't attacking your annoying family members. "Wait, I actually need that." She reached out and made a grasping motion with her fingers to indicate that she wanted the pillow. It was eventually handed to her and she put it in its place before laying back. She opened her eyes again when a nurse came in. "Which one is older?"

The nurse gestured to the baby Matthew was holding. "She is. By three minutes."

"So what are you going to name them?" Francis asked, once the nurse had left.

Matthew and Maddy exchanged a look before grimacing. Matthew was the first to speak. "Well, we had an idea for whichever of them was born first." He looked down at his daughter uncomfortably. "We were thinking... Brittany."

Silence fell over the room except for the other baby, who was cooing at Severus. He seemed happy that his younger sister had taken such a liking to him. He giggled and cooed right back at her, booping her nose. She laughed and smiled at him. He beamed and looked, silently making sure everyone else had seen the event.

"It's perfect." Francis murmured, taking his granddaughter from his son and smiling at her. "'Ello little one." She giggled and grasped some of his hair in her tiny fingers. "She has your eyes, Cheri."

"Hopefully she won't be like me."

"What about her?" Alfred asked, gesturing to the second child.

"Selene." Maddy answered immediately, earning a groan from Matthew.

"You can't be serious." he muttered.

She shrugged at him. "I am."

"I like it." Severus said quietly, cradling his sister close to him. "Momma, why are her eyes red?"

"She's albino." His mother yawned and patted the spot next to her. He cuddled next to her and leaned his head against her side. "You say you like the name 'selene?'" He nodded and she smiled. "Can't argue with that." She settled into a more comfortable position and hugged her son closer. He was still holding Selene, but he looked up at her as she yawned. At his questioning stare, she smiled slightly. "Giving birth is tiring."

"Come on." Lovino said, gesturing to the boy. "Let your mom rest."

Severus looked disappointed, but handed Selene off to Alfred and kissed his mother's nose. "Love you."

She smiled and booped him back. "Love you too. I'll call you when I get home, okay?"

He nodded and slid off the bed, joining his father in the doorway. He waved and they left. Maddy shook her head, knowing her son would probably sleep next to the phone until she called. She nuzzled her daughter's forehead before her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep.

 **pinkittwice54: light-hearted? I don't do that. As for what you were getting into, lots of drama and feels.**


	11. Chapter 11

Abelia looked around wildly, her eyes wide and shining with fear. Why had she agreed to go to this stupid party? Why had she thought this was a good idea? Who could she call? She supposed she could call her mother, but that probably wouldn't end well. She fumbled with her phone, shaking so badly that she almost dropped it. She couldn't call her father or her brother. What would they be able to do? Fly over? That would take days and she needed someone now. She dialed the next number that came to mind, despite the fact that she really didn't want to call either of her older sisters. They were the only other ones she could think of. She tried Brittany's phone first.

It rang and rang and rang. Footsteps made her jump and she took a few frightened steps away from the spot she'd been in before. Finally, the line clicked on and she tried to hold back tears of relief.

"Hello?"

She stopped, shock keeping her mouth hanging open. The voice on the other end wasn't Brittany's. "M-Matthew?" She stuttered, just to be sure.

"Abelia? Are you okay?"

Maybe he could hear the fear in her voice, maybe it was just because of how late it was, but something told her that he knew she needed help. She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, her jaw working silently to tell him that _no, she was not okay._

"Could- could you come pick me up?" she choked out finally, flinching as if someone had hit her. He _had_ to say yes, he just had to. She didn't know who else to call and she needed to get out of here.

This didn't seem to phase him, because he simply said, "Sure. Where are you?"

She told him her location before she could lose her nerve and tried not to sob with relief. "T-thank you." More footsteps. She jumped and dropped her phone, the metal thing landing with a splash in a puddle at her feet. She stooped down to get it and jumped when a hand was laid on her shoulder.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite toy. All alone, Bell? Who's going to save you now?"

Tears pooled in her eyes and dripped into the puddle, making little ripples that distorted her reflection. This could _not_ be happening. She'd just gotten someone to come pick her up. She shot to her feet, twisting her torso just enough to smack the boy behind her then turned and fled, her heart pounding. Her footsteps sent her pulse racing and she slid to a stop behind a dumpster, trying desperately to silence her breathing. He couldn't find her, she'd been so careful to stay away from him. Mom had already threatened to call the police on him for stalking her. A headache was starting to form in her temple and she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. She had to get back to the lamp post she'd been standing under. Matthew was close now- she hoped. Footsteps made her shy away from the crack of light by her feet. She backed further behind the dumpster, her pulse thundering in her ears. She closed her eyes and waited for the footsteps to recede before taking a deep breath and stepping into the light again. She looked back and forth before taking off back toward the lamp. A hand shot out of the darkness in front of her, clamped around her mouth and pulled her back, slamming her into the brick wall. She groaned in pain, but began clawing at the hand covering her mouth.

"Now, Bell. What do you honestly think that'll do? Haven't you heard the phrase 'don't bite the hand that feeds you'?"

He pulled his hand back just enough for her to snarl at him and clamp her teeth onto the appendage in front of her. He grunted and ripped his hand out of her grasp, the flesh tearing, allowing blood to well up and run out. She spat the lumps of flesh out and grinned, her teeth and the corners of her mouth stained crimson. He hissed in annoyance and smacked her, her head snapping back and slamming into the brick behind her. Her vision faltered, going black around the edges. Her head swam and before she knew it, she was pinned once again. After that it was just pain and horror. Rushed footsteps made him stop and suddenly, Abelia felt him being yanked away from her. She collapsed to the ground, pulling at her jacket and pants, trying to cover herself again. Something soft and warm was wrapped around her and she saw through her tears that Matthew was crouched next to her, staring at her worriedly. She reached up to feel the material he'd put on her shoulders and wrapped the hoodie tighter around her. He picked her up and cradled her against his chest, before walking away. She peeked over her shoulder, finding her attacker laying limply on the ground, blood trickling from his nose and mouth.

"He's just unconscious." Matthew reassured her, stopping and opening a car door. He carefully set her in the passenger seat and closed the door, hurrying around the front of the car. He got in, closed his door and looked at her again. "I'm not going to ask you if you're okay, you're not."

She was glad he wasn't going to ask that. How could she be okay after that? Without a word, she buckled her seatbelt and settling into the seat. "A-are you going to tell dad?" her voice sounded rough, like it'd been a long time since it'd been used.

"Trust me, it's not your father I'm worried about." he replied, buckling up and starting the car. As he put the car into gear, he looked at her carefully. "Your father may have the mafia, but your mother is terrifying when she's angry. Hell will seem fairly appealing when she's through with your... _friend."_ The last word came out so sarcastically and angrily that Abelia had to do a double take. The blond wasn't known for being sassy or scary.

The brunette suddenly had visions of her mother hunting down her attacker and beating him until his face was crushed in and unrecognizable. It seemed like something she'd do. Suddenly, she looked up. "Mom doesn't believe in hell."

"What?" Matthew asked, not turning his attention away from the road.

"You said hell would seem appealing once mom was done with him, but mom doesn't believe in hell."

He smiled slightly. "True."

They were silent the rest of the drive and when they pulled into the driveway, Matthew got out and helped her into the house. She didn't really need help, but she supposed it was nice of him to try. Once they were inside, she sat on the couch and he grabbed a blanket from the closet and handed it to her, mumbling about how he try to find some comfortable clothes for her. Soft footsteps came down the stairs and Abelia saw a flash of white hair before her older sister was stepping toward her hesitantly.

"Dad, is everything okay?"

Matthew turned to face his daughter. "Selene. No, everything's not okay. Could you go find your sister some clothes?"

She nodded and went back up the stairs, returning a few minutes later with a bundle of clothing draped over her forearm. "I wasn't sure what you'd want." She mumbled apologetically, handing the bundle over.

Abelia took the clothing and asked where the bathroom was. After being directed to it, she locked the door behind her and surveyed herself in the mirror. Her face was red where she'd been slapped, her teeth still had a red tint to them and there were bruises all over her torso and legs. She reached up and touched the spot where she'd hit her head and winced, the spot still tender. Her fingers came away red. She sighed and changed out of her own dirty, torn clothing into a baggy black t-shirt and some loose fitting black sweatpants. Selene certainly liked black clothing. She checked her jacket and a small smile twitched the corners of her mouth up. Her jacket wasn't torn, just a bit dirty, but it could be washed. _Small victories, right?_

When she came out of the bathroom, she was unsurprised to see her mother standing in the living room, biting her nails. It was a nervous habit that, despite her best efforts, she hadn't able to break. Unfortunately, the sight of her mother, wide awake but clearly exhausted, so worried about her made tears well up and she couldn't help it. She dropped the clothing and launched herself into her mother's arms.

Maddy stumbled as her youngest daughter clung to her like a lifeline, but hugged her back anyway and blinked rapidly to keep her own tears at bay. She stroked her daughter's hair and mumbled about how she wouldn't let him hurt her anymore. It sounded more she was trying to convince herself, but Abelia didn't care. She had her mother there with her and right then, that was all she needed. Maddy sent Matthew a grateful look over her daughter's shoulder and mouthed a "thank you."

He simply nodded back to her. Selene watched her parents uneasily. While the entire exchange had been silent, it had spoken volumes. She turned her attention back to her little sister and touched her shoulder lightly. Abelia looked terrified before she realized who it was and simply looked at her. "Do you want to go with mom?"

The brunette shook her head before mumbling, "I want mom to stay here." Both girls sent their mother a hopeful look.

The blonde sighed. "Alright."

Decreeing that it was late, Matthew showed Abelia to Selene's bedroom, the group having come to a decision that it was probably the best place for her to stay. He then showed his ex to the guest bedroom and they awkwardly told each other good night before she closed the door and he walked away. A few hours later, he went to check on the girls, only to find them curled up with their mother. He smiled at the sight, though his heart broke a little bit. He went to the living room and pulled out his phone. He needed to call Lovino.

 **pinkittwice54: *nervous laughter* don't kill me...**


	12. Chapter 12

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous. I need an antipsychotic." Maddy backed away from the person she _knew_ wasn't real, but she looked so real. Did she know any people that weren't psychotic? She was pretty sure she didn't. The panic was starting to set in. "You're not real."

The brunette smiled warmly at her. "Of course I am." A hurt look crossed her features. "How could you say that? I'm your best friend."

"You're dead!" She screamed at the vision.

Brittany sent the blonde another hurt look. "And yet, here we are."

Maddy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, hoping she could handle this better once she calmed down. Finally, when her heart stopped racing, she opened her eyes. "You're not real." She turned and walked out of the kitchen, willing herself to stay calm. This was just a figment of her imagination after al,l and what kind of grown woman was scared of her imagination?

Her. She was terrified of her imagination. It'd always had a habit of getting away from her. It'd only gotten worse after the doctor visits had started.

Her phone stopped, unlocking her phone so she could see the notification. "Who is it?" The fake Brittany asked. Maddy waved her off. "Let me _look."_ It was from Lovino.

 _The bastard tried it again._

She sighed. _But you got the mafia to trail her, right?_

It was a few minutes before he texted back. _Of course, Ragazza._

She sighed again and placed her phone back in her pocket. She didn't really like the idea of the mafia following her daughter around, but if Lovi thought they could protect Bell then that was what was going to happen. Bell had been around them for about a week now anyway, hopefully she was doing okay. From what Lovino said, none of them had tried anything and had scared off Bell's attacker many times in the past week. Hopefully, he'd finally stop trying to see her.

 _It's been a month since he attacked her. You'd think he'd have given up by now._

There was a knock on the door and Maddy jumped, her eyes narrowing at it. She was pretty sure she wasn't expecting anyone today. Although, her latest visitors hadn't exactly been planned either. She opened the door and relaxed, slightly. "James."

He smiled at her, not condescendingly for once. "Hey beauty."

She rolled her eyes, she'd given up on trying to stop him from using the nickname. It wasn't that she was starting to believe that she was attractive like he thought, because she wasn't, she just didn't care enough anymore to get him to stop. Maybe that was why he thought she was warming up to him.

He moved inside when she left the door frame and kept her back to him, hugging her elbows to her body. She couldn't handle this right now. She still had the fake Brittany trailing her, only this one wasn't acting like her dead best friend. This one was acting like how a dark or evil version of Brittany would and it scared her. "He's attractive." Brittany commented.

"No he's not." Maddy snapped at the vision, knitting her fingers together. She jumped as James laid a hand on her shoulder. He had a concerned expression on his face, but that didn't mean anything. "Are you okay?" She looked away from him and stared at a spot on the wall. Maybe if she ignored the vision, it'd go away. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." The illusion chuckled, her eyes shining with mirth.

James continued to watch the blonde uncertainly, wishing once again that his concern was feigned. Watching her suffer through her hallucinations was torture, but he didn't know what to do. Her suspicion of him just made it all worse. He wished that he was as bad as she thought he was, that he didn't really care about her and was just trying to hurt her, but that wasn't it at all. She shuddered and looked up at him, before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."

"What did you see?"

"It wasn't so much of a 'what' as it was a 'who.'"

He suddenly had a very bad feeling about it. "Brittany."

She nodded and rubbed a hand up her arm. "I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?" His heart sped up again. "Are you sure you can handle meeting everyone today?"

Her eyes widened just slightly. "That's right! That's today."

He tightened his grip on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

She sent him a look that was a mix of annoyance and amusement. "I'll be fine. Besides, you're family's been planning for this for how long? Three weeks?"

He sent her another apprehensive look. She rolled her eyes. "James, while I appreciate the concern, I'll be fine. Just let me go get dressed and then we can leave." She worked herself out of his hold and went upstairs. He sighed and sat on the couch, burying his head in his hands. "Why are you so stubborn?"

She came down a few minutes later to James holding something behind his back. Her old paranoia reared up again and she stopped at the foot of the stairs, her heart thudding against her ribs. "What are you doing?"

He smiled at her, a small tentative smile. "I got you something."

She seemed to deflate before his eyes. "Really?" She didn't seem nearly as excited as most people usually were when someone else said they had gotten them something. She was sending him a half smile now that looked like it would fall any moment. Suddenly, he felt like this had been a very bad idea. "Mhm." Then with a flourish that was slightly less grand than it normally would have been, he revealed a small ball of fuzz. "Voila."

Realizing he didn't pose a threat, she came over and gingerly took the fluffy thing from him. It meowed at her and she smiled slightly. "It's cute." She held it up in front of her, looking it in the eye. The maine coon kitten meowed again and licked her nose. She chuckled. "Thank you, James. He's adorable." She cradled the kitten against her stomach, leaning down to head boop it as it meowed again. After laughing and cooing at the kitten for a few more minutes, she set him on the couch and they left.

They were driving before James decided to break the silence. "I'm sorry."

She looked away from the window and sent him a confused look. "Hm? For what?"

"For making you uncomfortable. With the cat, I mean."

"No, it's fine." She replied, looking at her lap. "It just makes me uncomfortable when people spend money on me."

"That explains lunch a couple weeks ago." He teased, quickly glancing over at her before looking back to the road. He heard her scoff and saw her cross her arms out of the corner of his eye. As they got closer to the house, his discomfort rose. "About Oliver's cupcakes-"

"Don't eat them unless I've helped him make them because they could be poisonous or have human flesh in them."

"Luciano uses human flesh. Oliver just poisons the cupcakes."

"Good to know I won't be considered a cannibal when I'm poisoned." She replied sarcastically.

"And Allen-"

"Allen is a vegan. Don't mention Alfred to him because he has a problem with him and calls him Porkchop."

"Right. Now Francois-"

"He'll probably silently glare at me, but I shouldn't take it personally because that's just how he is and he does it to everyone. Yes, James, I _know!_ You've been grilling this stuff into me since you told me your family wanted to officially meet me."

He settled back into his seat, glad that she remembered it, despite her annoyance that he kept going over it. They had gotten to the house and he had parked when she spoke again. "Also, don't swear around Oliver because he doesn't like it."

He chuckled. "Yes. If he hears you swear, he'll make you put money in the swear jar." He'd lost a lot of money to that jar. "Let's go." _Let's get this over with._ He led her up to the front door and went in, gently rapping on it to announce their presence. "We're home."

"Hey bro! You finally brought the love of your life home!" Allen walked out of the living room, his baseball bat propped up on his shoulder. "Hey Doll." Maddy stepped away from him, her eyes glued to the barbed wire wrapped bat. He tilted his head curiously at her, then following her gaze and snickered. "Don't worry Doll, I won't be using this on you."

"Allen, stop scaring the poor poppet!" Oliver stepped past Allen and smiled at the two blonds in the entryway. He held a cupcake out to the female of the two and smiled sweetly at her. "Would you like a cupcake?" Trying hard not to visibly shake, she smiled and shook her head. "Ah- n-no thank you. I just-" She cleared her throat. "I'm not hungry."

Oliver's face fell before he sent James an accusing look. "What have you been telling her? Honestly," he looked to Maddy again, before grabbing her arm and dragging her deeper into the house. "You poison one batch of cupcakes and everyone assumes you've poisoned them all! No worries poppet, I wouldn't poison a pretty thing like you!"

She smiled at him nervously as she was forced into a chair. "I-I'm sure you wouldn't." Hands shaking, she took the cupcake from him. She jumped as a hand fell to her shoulder. What was it with people and touching her unexpectedly today?

"Y'know Doll, you're not at all like James said." Allen said, grinning smugly, as if he'd won something.

She looked up at him, hugging her arms to her abdomen. "Really?" He had a tooth missing, she noticed. It made him look like a wannabe gang member.

"He told us you were sassy and shi-"

"Allen, language!" Oliver snapped. Allen sighed and rolled his eyes before looking down at her again. "You're nothing but a timid little flower."

Normally, a sassy remark would've sprung to her mind and out of her mouth, but she didn't know Allen. She wasn't sure what would offend him and what he would find funny. She simply looked at her lap and shied away from his touch. So what if he thought she was a timid, delicate thing? It didn't matter.

James pushed his brother away from her. "Al, you're scaring her." He stooped down and gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay?" He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. She nodded and reached out toward the cupcake Oliver had given her. Despite her anxiety and everything she'd heard about these people, something made her think he was telling the truth about not poisoning her. James grabbed her wrist and sent her a dirty look, but she shook him off and grabbed the pastry. She took a hesitant bite, thoughts of convulsing horribly on the ground due to poison flashing through her head. She blinked and stared at the cupcake in surprise.

"What do you think poppet?" Oliver asked, a curious yet almost dangerous gleam in his eye.

James looked like he was ready to perform the heimlich on her just to get the small bite out of her system. "It's really good." She replied slowly, her eyes still on the pastry. The experience reminded her of how everyone made a big deal out of eating and surviving Arthur's cooking. Oliver smiled at her warmly. "Thank you!" Suddenly, his eyes widened and he left the kitchen in a pink blur. "Francois, come downstairs and meet the poppet!" He came into the kitchen and was relieved to see that the blonde had eaten more of the cupcake, though she now a strange look on her face.

"What flavor is this?" she asked quietly. It tasted a lot like pumpkin, but something was off. She had a theory, but she was really hoping she was wrong. "It tastes like pumpkin, but not normal pumpkin."

Oliver clapped a little, as if he were excited that she was interested in the flavor. "It's pumpkin spice!"

Her already strained smile fell away completely. She didn't say anything, she just set the cupcake down, stood up and walked out of the kitchen. She scaled the stairs two at a time and sat in the first corner she came to when she got to the second floor. Curling into a ball, she groaned into her knees, trying to express all her frustration with pumpkin spice without seeming like a psycho. After a while, however, she got the uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched and looked up. Staring at her with a stoic expression was the man she assumed was Francois, considering he looked like Francis and was the only person she hadn't met yet. She smiled weakly at him. "Bonjour Francois. Commen t-allez vous?"

He didn't respond, just continued to watch her and she felt chills crawl up her spine. _That's right, he doesn't talk much. Alright, new plan._ She smiled again, mentally adding another tally to her list of times she'd forced a smile today. "Hello. I'm Maddy. James wanted me to meet all of you and ah-" Her smile faltered and she looked down. "I'm kind of hiding up here. Oliver gave me a cupcake and the flavor-" She stopped. He probably didn't care that she didn't like a certain flavor or why she was on the stairs. Honestly, he was probably waiting for her to move so he could go downstairs. "Nevermind." She mumbled, resting her forehead against her knees again and curling into a tighter ball. Instead of going past her, like she thought he would, he sat down next to her, still staying silent. She decided not to react, suddenly not caring.

"I don't really like Oliver's cupcakes either."

Her head jerked up and she stared at him in shock. He, however, ignored her and continued. "What flavor was it?"

She looked away before mumbling, "Pumpkin spice."

He nodded and took another drag on the cigarette she'd just noticed he was smoking. They stayed like that for a while, just sitting in silence before he stood, helped her up and went downstairs. The rest of the day passed in a blur, but at least she didn't get poisoned.

 **pinkittwice54: No, not by your bidding at all.**

 **silverfang493: Noo! I promise I'll be nicer!**


	13. Chapter 13

Selene slid her bag off her shoulder and dropped into the old velvety chair. This corner of the library rarely got any visitors and most people didn't talk her anyway, so she hoped those factors added together would mean she'd finally get to read her book. She cracked the book open, staring ruefully at the already messed up spine. Much to her mother's delight, she was already finished with both _Cinder_ and _Scarlet_ and was almost halfway through _Cress._ She marked her page in her book, set it down and dug around in her bag until she found her hoodie. She slipped it on, chewing on the strings. Sev would just roll his eyes at her when he found out she had already started chewing on them. She settled back into the chair, picking _Cress_ up again. She really hoped Thorne would get to Cress before something bad happened to her.

"Hey!" Hands slammed onto the table in front of her and she looked up, her ruby eyes finding probably the only person who saw her. Adalwolf, that was his full name and he was from Germany. He hadn't been there since he was a child, but he didn't care. To most people, he was Aaron and he'd had her call him that until her birthday nearly a month ago. That was when she'd gotten _The Lunar Chronicles_ and after borrowing _Scarlet,_ he'd insisted she called him Wolf.

She still refused to.

He was breathing heavily, as if he'd just run all over the school looking for her. Maybe he had, it sounded like something he'd do. She raised an eyebrow at him and he took this as a silent cue to speak. "I. Have. Been _trying_ to give this to you for the past three weeks." He stuck a wrapped package out at her.

Selene sighed and gingerly took the package, as if it were fragile or would explode in her face if she wasn't careful. Truthfully, she just didn't like it when people spent money on her. With her parents, it was different. They were her parents and she wasn't a legal independent adult yet. Situations like this? It was just awkward. She carefully unwrapped the package, revealing a package of gel pens and a sketchbook. She smiled and looked up at Aaron, silently wondering once again how he'd gotten Aaron as a nickname. Maybe his parents had suggested it after moving. "Thank you."

He smiled at her, a lopsided grin that would've made her nervous or annoyed if it were anyone else. "I found your hiding spot."

She looked at her lap. "Damn. I guess I'll just have to try harder next time."

He sent her a fake look of hurt. "You know you love me."

And despite the fact that he could be a bit obnoxious sometimes, he was right. She didn't say it, but she enjoyed his company. She knew he considered her a friend, but she was still a little uncomfortable with the idea and couldn't refer to him as a friend, at least not out loud. She wasn't like Brittany, who made friends like people breathed oxygen. It was involuntary and always happening, even if she didn't stay friends with them for long. The albino scratched at her arm absentmindedly, snapping back to attention when Aaron dragged a chair over and sat in front her. "You okay?"

She nodded, despite the growing pit of dread in her stomach. His constant concern still made her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure how to handle someone outside her family being as concerned as he was. Brittany was convinced it meant he loved her, but Selene didn't agree. Friends worried about each other, right? Why did being worried about someone have to mean you loved them? Besides, there was no way he could love her. They hadn't been friends that long. She shook her head and went back to her book, her thoughts racing. Aaron settled into his chair and laid his head on the back. He usually just sat with her when she read, enjoying the silence. The bell rang and they both jumped, having been lost in their thoughts. Aaron helped her gather her books and insisted on carrying her bag, despite her protests. He walked her to class and escorted her to her seat before he decided he could leave. She sighed and hid her bright red face as girls around her tittered jealously and others told her she was lucky. Still, others told her she shouldn't "lead him on" in such a way, but she ignored them. Aaron was handsome, there was no argument there, but he was also the subject of most of the girls fantasies in this school. She hated it. Why did he have to be so nice to her? She liked it better when she went unnoticed.

The bell rang again and the substitute started attendance. Selene raised her hand when he finally got to her name and she tried to ignore the whispers throughout the class. She knew what her peers thought of her and Brittany. Unlike her twin, she ignored it. For the most part anyway. She tried to throw herself wholeheartedly into the lesson, but her mind kept wandering, leaving the school entirely. She fiddled with the hem of her gloves. She'd cut the top half of the fingers off them, but left them the length they'd been when she'd ordered them. The gloves went most of the way down her forearm, stopping just before reaching her elbow. Tugging at her hoodie, she considered taking it off. She was getting warm. Maybe if she left her gloves on..? No, that would look strange and she tried not to draw attention to herself. Unlike, her father who hated going unnoticed and her mother who simply didn't care, she actively tried to be invisible. That was partially why she didn't always like how much attention Aaron paid to her. In the end, she kept her hoodie on, despite her growing discomfort. She hadn't worn a long sleeve shirt today and she didn't want people staring at her arms.

The bell rang yet again and Selene jumped. She hadn't realized class was over, she'd been too absorbed in her thoughts. Her heart sped up as she realized she'd missed the entire class. She hadn't gotten any notes! She resolve crumbled, how was she supposed to get a good grade on the test now? She went up to the sub and asked for notes, claiming she'd been in the bathroom because she hadn't felt well. Apparently, he believed her on the spot lie, because he handed a couple papers over to her. She thanked him profusely before turning and rushing out of the room. She needed to get outside and find Brittany. She stumbled out into an overcast greyness, zipping her backpack up to keep her papers and books from flying everywhere. Someone grabbed her shoulder and she twisted away, grabbing the foreign wrist and wrenching it behind the person's back. She held on with an iron grip, her pulse pounding in her ears until she realized just who she was pinning and released her sister. Brittany rubbed her shoulder, glaring at her. "What the hell was that?"

Selene smiled sheepishly at her twin. "Sorry. I panicked."

This didn't seem to be a good enough answer for the blonde girl as she continued to scowl at her. "That hurt."

"I said sorry."

"You pinned my arm behind my back!"

"I said sorry!"

"Don't argue." They both jumped at the new voice and turned to find Severus standing a few feet behind them. He was smirking at them. "It's not very ladylike."

Brittany's scowl intensified, but Selene had to keep herself from squealing. "Sev!" She shrieked instead and launched herself at him, enveloping him in a tight hug. He stumbled under the sudden assault, but chuckled and hugged her back anyway. "No need to shout Selene, I'm right here."

Selene hugged her brother for a few more minutes, then let go of him and stepped back. "How is Bell? Is she okay?"

He sighed. "She's gotten better. From what I could tell, she's getting kinda flirty with one of the mafia people."

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Bad decision on her part. That's nothing new."

Selene turned to her sister, not able to stop the disappointed look from coming out. "Britt…"

The blonde rolled her eyes again and huffed, "Can we go please?" She sent Severus a disdainful look. "What are you even doing here?"

He matched her distaste with his own. "I told mom I'd come pick you up."

She scoffed. "Of course you did. You're such a momma's boy. I bet you'd jump off a cliff if mom asked you to."

He rolled his eyes. "Mom wouldn't ask me to jump off a cliff. Why don't you just walk if you don't want a ride?"

"I never said that."

"Well, I'm not driving someone as cruel as you around."

"Is that the best you've got?" Brittany strode up to Severus, closing the distance between them and leaned close. "You wanna go, pasta boy? We can go."

Severus held eye contact with her, his gaze blazing. "Let's go then."

The staring contest went on for a few more minutes, before Brittany huffed and turned away, her ponytail smacking against his cheek. "You're not worth the time."

Sev glared at the back of her head. "Not so tough without your little lapdog, are you?"

Brittany stopped, her free hand clenching into a fist at her side. _No one_ insulted her little brother, not even the man who tried to be her elder brother. "Take it back."

He crossed his arms and replied cooly, "No."

Brittany turned, her fist flying toward his face. "Brittany, no!" There was a flash of white and suddenly, Selene's head jerked to the side, her hand coming up to her cheek. Brittany stared at her twin in shock and stepped back. Her knuckles were red, her hand hurt. Selene was hunched over, cradling her face in her hands while Sev held her shoulders and glared at Brittany. "I told you, I'm fine." Selene stood, a bright red mark taking up a little less than half of her face. She rubbed it, her eyes on her feet.

Brittany's mouth was hanging open. "Selene, I-"

The albino held up a hand, causing her sister's mouth to snap shut and her brother to fall silent. She was shaking, just slightly, but she took a deep breath and picked up her bag. "We should go." She started towards her brother's car and kept her back to her siblings. They held another glaring contest before joining her by the car. Sev helped her into the passenger seat, even though she didn't need it and Brittany meekly climbed into the back. The only brunette started the car and drove to his mother's house as quickly as he could without breaking any laws. They got out when it stopped and Brittany hurried into the house, hoping to get away before her mother could see her. She stepped inside, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw her father. Standing next to her mother and… laughing? It was a few moments before they noticed her, but when they did, they both sent her luminous smiles. "How was school?" Her mother asked.

Brittany adjusted the strap of her bag and tried to smile. "Fine. School was fine, great even!"

Neither of her parents seemed convinced. "Is something wrong?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but was suddenly shoved forward. "You're in the way. I need to get Selene some ice, thanks to you."

"Sev, I told you, I'm fine. I can get ice myself."

"What happened to your cheek?" Her mother's voice rang out as Selene came into view.

"Nothing, mom, I'm fine."

"No you're not! Brittany punched you!"

"Sev! It was an accident. She was going for you!"

"Why's everyone yelling?" Alfred strode into view and spied the three children, his face paling slightly. Brittany squirmed under his gaze, her heart hammering against her ribs. This wasn't going to be good.

"You punched your sister?" Her mother said after a long silence. Her voice suggested calm, but Brittany knew there was a storm brewing behind that calm facade.

"She was going for me, mom." Severus interjected.

"Why?" Matthew asked, holding an ice pack out to his stubborn albino daughter.

"They got in a fight." She mumbled, taking the ice pack from her father and holding it against her cheek. "It's not a big deal."

Brittany dared to look up from her feet and something in her broke. Her parents were giving her a disappointed look, but so was her uncle. Disappointing her parents? That she was used to, but her uncle? That stung. He was usually so happy to see her and tried his hardest not to be overbearing or act like a third parent and more like a friend.

"I think it would be best if you came home with me for the weekend." Matthew said finally, sending his ex a questioning look. She nodded and he turned back to his daughters. "Selene, you can stay if you want." He gathered up the few things he'd brought over and made his way to the door. "I'm going to go start the car."

Severus led Selene upstairs, muttering to her the entire way. For once, she simply allowed herself to be led away, mostly ignoring her older brother's chatter. Brittany sighed and sat down, her unfocused gaze locked on a spot on the floor only she could see. A few minutes later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, into the sad eyes of her father. "Go apologize to your brother and sister and then we can leave." Brittany's anger flared again. "He's not my brother."

Matthew sighed. "Yes he is, Brittany. Go on."

She scowled and went upstairs, knocking on her sister's bedroom door. Sev peeked out and then slid out of the room, closing the door behind him. "What?"

"I need to see Selene."

"Are you going to punch her again?"

Her fingers dug into her crossed arms. "No, but I missed last time. I could always give you your daily beating."

He didn't take the bait, as she'd hoped. Instead he scoffed and opened the door. "My parents don't beat me, I wouldn't know what that's like."

"Well then, maybe the feeling is long overdue."

"Guys, please don't fight." Selene said quietly from her bed. She hated it when her siblings fought. Brittany slowly made her way over. "Hey. I just wanted to apologize. Y'know, for hitting you." Selene looked at her lap, fiddling with her comforter. "It's fine. You should go. Dad won't want to wait very long." Brittany could tell she wasn't going to get anything else out of her twin. Admittedly, it hurt a little. "Alright. I'll see you when you get home on Sunday." Selene nodded, refusing to look up. The blonde sighed and stood up, leaving the room before the tears she could feel welling up could fall. She hadn't meant to hurt her sister, she'd been aiming for Severus. Maybe this was karma though, for trying to punch him in the first place. She got downstairs and found that both her bag and her uncle were gone. Her father walked out of the kitchen. "Ready?" She nodded and looked around again.

"Your bag is in the car. Al left."

 _Without saying goodbye?_ Okay, that really stung. She wiped at her eyes to keep the tears away and walked out of the house. It had gotten colder while she'd been inside. The wind whipped around, stinging her eyes and drying them all at once. She got in the passenger seat of her dad's car, her arms crossed. She wouldn't even have Chris at the house. It would just be her and her dad, since her brother was visiting their grandfather. She sighed and sunk lower into the seat. The drive home was silent. At some point, she fell asleep.

Selene watched her father pull out of the driveway, taking her twin sister with him. Her cheek still stung and was a bit tender, but it felt a lot better than it had before. She sat down on her bed, leaning against Sev. He wrapped an arm around her in a half hug and sighed. "Why'd you jump in front of me?"

She looked up at him, expecting him to be joking. Nope, he was completely serious. "You think I'd let you get hurt?" They fell into silence until they decided to watch a movie. A few hours later, their mother knocked and opened the door just enough to poke her head in. "Are either of you hungry?"

"A little." They replied in unison, then exchanged an amused look. Selene would've laughed if her face didn't hurt.

"I was thinking something small since it's just the three of us. Soup and sandwiches maybe."

"Tomato soup," Severus replied instantly.

"And grilled cheese." Selene finished.

Maddy laughed. "You two haven't wanted that since you were little. But okay, sounds good to me. I'll let you know when it's ready."

As the door closed, they exchanged another knowing look and scrambled off the bed, chasing after their mother. "Mom, can we help?" Dinner was put on the table about an hour later, because they started fencing with butter knives and had to have a referee. They both came away with shallow cuts where they'd accidentally nicked each other, but nothing major. It was dark before any of them got to bed.

 **silverfang493: picky, picky.**


	14. flashback III

Matthew was happy he wouldn't ever know what it was like to give birth. The whole process just seemed painful as hell and he didn't like the idea of c-sections any better. He wasn't sure why he was allowed into the delivery room _this_ time and not when the twins were born, but he assumed it had something to do with the medical complications he'd been told about. He'd left Selene and Brittany with Alfred, Francis, Lovino, Severus and Abelia. As always, Severus was more worried about his mother than anything else. He didn't care that he was about to get another younger sibling. Well, he did, but his concern for his mother overshadowed that excitement.

Maybe he had a reason to be concerned.

"Something's wrong. We need to do a C-section."

His eyes widened and he pulled himself out of his train of thought, staring at the doctors. "Seriously?"

The doctor barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. "Yes sir, seriously. The problem is much more serious than we thought before-"

"Do whatever you have to do, just get the damn child out of me." Maddy hissed. "This hurts."

Matthew sighed. Apparently childbirth didn't count as a reason for her to tone down the sass for once. Although, from what he'd gathered from her previous pregnancies, childbirth hurt. A lot, even when you had medication. The doctor didn't seem to mind the interruption, maybe he got that a lot from pregnant women. He nodded. "Bring the spinal block and the-" Matthew tuned the rest out. He tried to move his hand, but he was pretty sure the woman in front of him had cut off circulation. They'd let him in and he'd immediately come over to her, slipping his hand into hers. She hadn't fought it like he'd thought she would, she'd just started squeezing it like she was glad he was there. He hoped that's what it had meant anyway.

"Sir, we're about to inject the spinal block and the numbing agent. You're aware that this will make her extremely… loopy?"

He looked up. He'd been lost in thought again. "Alright."

The solutions were injected and they began making the incision. Matthew looked away. It wasn't that he couldn't handle blood, he could, but somehow this felt different. Probably because the person they were cutting open had a more personal connection to him. "What are they doing?" He looked back. Apparently, even being injected with things that were supposed to make her loopy didn't dampen Maddy's morbid curiosity. He steeled himself and looked again. "They're cutting you open and pulling your guts out." It reminded him of a zombie show.

"Cool!"

He shook his head even though she wasn't paying attention to him. "No, not cool. Gross and reminiscent of a zombie mob eating someone alive."

The drugs started to take affect. She leaned back and stared at the ceiling, muttering something about it being rainbow-y. He looked over again, blood and guts were everywhere. Where was this child? They needed to get it out so they could put everything back in soon. Cries and screams filled the air and the child was lifted out, covered in blood. They cut the umbilical cord and a nurse carried the child away. The doctor and other nurses began shoving everything back in and for a second, Matthew thought he was going to puke. "Ma'am, can you wiggle your toes?"

She wasn't paying attention. "Hey." He gently nudged her shoulder. She looked at him questioningly. "They want you to wiggle your toes."

Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened and she stared at him like he'd just revealed the purpose of life. "I have toes?" She asked quietly. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, you have toes."

"Sir, you need to leave now. We have to finish getting everything back into place and sew her up. We'll send someone to get you when you can see her."

"Okay." He turned to walk out of the room, but a hand had latched onto his own.

"Noo! Don't leave me!"

He turned and stared at her. Even when they'd been together, she'd not once begged him not to leave her alone. His heart broke a little. "I have to."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No. Stay."

"Ma'am, he can't be in here right now."

"I'm not a 'ma'am.' I'm not old enough to be a 'ma'am.'"

He crouched down and patted her hand gently. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, as if she didn't believe him. "Promise?"

His heart broke even more, but he nodded. "Promise."

She released her hold on him and he stood up again, blinking back tears. In the waiting room, he wiped at his face, hoping he wasn't crying. Severus noticed him first and ran up to him. "What happened? Is mom okay?" Apparently, he didn't look quite as nonchalant as he'd hoped he did. "She's fine. Don't worry."

Alfred came over, Brittany latched onto one of his legs. "Are you okay bro?"

He nodded. "I'm fine. Just some stuff got said."

Al gave him an apprehensive look. "Like.. bad stuff?"

Matthew shook his head. "Just some stuff. I'll tell you later." Selene had scurried up to her father, staring at him imploringly with her red eyes. "Are you okay, daddy?" He sniffed and ruffled her hair. "I'm fine. Let's sit down, okay? The doctors won't let any of us see your mom yet." They crossed the waiting room and sat down, some of the tension went out of the group, but not quite enough to make the wait enjoyable.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Hm?" He raised his head and looked to who had spoken.

Lovino raised an eyebrow at him before repeating himself, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Matthew sent him a small smile and nodded. "I'm fine." They'd become something that almost resembled friends since this whole thing had started. "Watching the c-section was awful though. It was gross."

The italian smiled, just slightly. "I imagine so." He bounced Abelia on his knee and she grasped at the front of his shirt. Much like her older siblings, she was developing faster than a normal child, due to being half immortal. It wasn't fast enough to create a huge difference between her and her peers, but it was enough.

"Dad!" Matthew's head snapped to the right, worried that one of his children had gotten hurt. Selene ran up to him. "Did you really have to watch mom get cut open?"

He frowned. "Who told you about that?"

Her eyes lit up. "Uncle Alfred! I heard you talk about a c-section, but I didn't know what that was so I asked him and he told that the doctors had to cut mom open to get the baby out!" Matthew sent his brother an annoyed look over his daughter's head. "Wouldn't that kill mom? Is mom dead!?"

He sighed. He was already getting a headache. "No, your mother's not dead. The doctors are specially trained to cut open women and take babies out of them if medical issues determine that they need to."

Most of the concern vanished from Selene's face. "So... she's just.. Tired? Hurt? Does she have a nifty looking scar?"

"Yes, she's tired and hurt. She'll definitely have a scar because they had to cut deep enough to pull her intestines and things out."

Selene turned and ran back to her older brother and uncle. "Don't worry Sev, dad says mom's fine!"

"Alfred, stop scaring the children!"

"I wasn't _trying_ to! I was just answering their questions!"

"Well.. stop." Matthew muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Next time, I'll make you explain to them that their mother isn't dead." He cursed softly in french, his patience wearing thin and his fatigue finally catching up with him.

A very horrified, very french gasp sounded from a couple feet in front of him. "Mathieu! Not in front of the children!"

He looked up at his father and scowled. "They can't understand me." He was teaching his children french, of course he was, but he wasn't _stupid._ He hadn't taught them curses and he didn't plan to. Knowing who their mother was though, they'd learn them at some point when they were older. Suddenly, a doctor appeared and ushered them into the hospital room. A nurse had just handed the tiny baby to Maddy and she was looking at him lovingly. Matthew's heart constricted just a bit. He remembered when she'd looked at him like that. He walked to the side of the bed. "You okay?" She nodded and handed the child to him. She yawned. "The doctor says it's a boy." Brittany had pushed her way to the bedside and was watching the tiny bundle carefully. Abelia followed her. "He looks kinda funny." The brunette girl stated. Brittany sent her a dirty look. "He's a baby! I'm sure you looked funny when you were a baby!"

"Hey, don't fight around your baby brother. It'll upset him." Maddy chided them gently, her eyelids drooping. She yawned again. "I will say one thing about c-sections and that is that they feel extremely weird. I never want to have my guts shoved back into my body ever again."

"Momma, can I see your scar?" Severus asked, carefully climbing onto the bed.

"Me too! I wanna see it too!" Selene chanted, climbing up after her brother.

"Well, it's not a scar yet, but you can see where they stitched me up." She showed them the wound, which was still red around the edges. "See? When they take the stitches out, we'll be able to see where the holes were."

"Oooh!" The two children were soon enamored with the wound. Matthew sighed. That just meant their mother's morbidness had been passed down to them. He wondered how long it would be before he heard about being eaten alive again. "Hey." He snapped himself out of his train of thought and sent his ex a questioning look. "What name were you thinking?"

"You're not deciding the name together?" Francis asked, sending both of them a confused and slightly disapproving look.

They both shook their heads. "I was thinking Christopher." Matthew mumbled, looking at the floor. For some reason, he had a very bad feeling about suggesting the name. "I like it." Came the quiet reply. He looked up and found Maddy smiling softly at thier son. He suddenly felt like someone was squeezing his heart in a fist. _Keep it together._

"The doctor says you're going to have to stay here for a few days, Ragazza." Lovino commented, Abelia clinging to his leg like a koala. "To recover."

Another yawn. "I figured."

"We should go." Matthew said suddenly, hoping it sounded like he was talking about leaving for _her_ sake, when he was really just trying not to die internally. Luckily, she nodded in agreement and they all filed out. He'd gotten the twins out into the parking lot, into the car and was driving before Brittany spoke up. "Dad?"

"Hm?"

"When will mom and Chris be coming home?"

He flinched and sighed. "Christopher needs to stay at the hospital for a few days so the doctors can make sure he's healthy. When they let us know he can come home, we'll go get him."

"What about mom?"

"She's still going to live alone."

"Why?"

"Because she wants to, Brittany."

"Why doesn't she want to live with us?"

"It's not that she doesn't want to, she's just dealing with some things right now."

"What kind of things?"

"Grown up things. You'll understand when you're older." Normally, he wouldn't have given that type of answer, but right now, he just wanted to get home. _Maybe when you're older, I'll be able to tell you without feeling like the world is ending._


	15. Chapter 15

"I'm not sure I can do this, Al." James sighed and fisted his hands in his hair. His thoughts were racing and he had a sudden tidal wave of guilt going through him. "This is going to hurt her way more than anything else would."

"So?" Allen asked, yawning and eyeing his brother questioningly. "What's the big deal?"

The blond sent his brother a death glare, which unfortunately, had no effect. "What do you mean ' _what's the big deal?'_ Despite what you and everyone else in this family seems to think, I actually do care about her. How am I supposed to go through with this?"

Allen rolled his eyes, propping his sunglasses higher up on his head when they started slipping. "God, now I know what you meant when you said you thought you were getting in too deep. You're going soft, bro."

"I am not going soft." James snapped, his eyes narrowing. "I'm just thinking about someone other than myself for a change."

"Is there a difference? Come on, bro, just admit it, you've gone soft. When was the last time you cut your hair?"

James' annoyance spiked yet again. "What does my hair have to do this? Besides, I _like_ it long."

"I'll bet." Allen smirked, mostly teasing. Truthfully, he was only trying to get a reaction out of his brother and get him to stop obsessing over this one girl. "Long girly hair's the badge of a sissy, ain't it? I won't judge if you don't want to be a real man."

"What makes you a real man, tofu-burger?" James asked coldly, his attention momentarily drawn to his brother in the worst of ways. "Is it the way you pick fights with guys twice your size? I bet it feels _real_ manly getting your teeth knocked loose every week."

"Oh, yeah, you don't like fighting, do ya?" Allen snapped. He may have been teasing before, but now he was done. "You're just a big flower picking _coward."_

"I'd rather be a coward than a bully." James hissed, crossing his arms. "Rather that than someone who needs to tear others down to just make himself feel… well _big."_

"Did you just call me _short?"_

"Well, I didn't call you fun sized, did I?"

Allen was shaking and looked to be trying very hard to restrain himself. "Let's go. Right now. You and me- I'll make you swallow your bloody _teeth-"_

"Boys!"

Both men jumped at the thunderous voice and stared at Oliver in shock as he boldly stepped between them. His usually happy, yet slightly demented expression was gone, replaced by one of absolute fury. " _Enough_ of this! What in the world is wrong with you two? Allen F. Jones, are you really picking another fight? Have you missed jail so much that you want to go again?" He bellowed, and Allen cowered against the wrath of his normally quiet, peppy father. "And _James Williams-"_ Oliver whirled to face James, who backed up so fast he bumped into a table. "I cannot _believe_ the cruel words I heard come out of your mouth! The two of you ought to be _ashamed! Why_ are you acting this way? Can the two of you really not get along for _thirty lousy minutes?"_ Oliver glared hard at the two men, both of whom currently resembled cornered rabbits, peering at him meekly. He turned and walked back up the stairs, muttering to himself the entire journey. He sat down next to Francois on the couch, swallowing uncomfortably. He didn't usually have to yell at the boys, so when he _did_ , it made his throat sore extremely quickly. "If one or both of them has to go to the hospital again, you're taking them." He told Francois, who simply grunted in reply. Shouts and thuds drifted up from the basement a few minutes later, but both adults tried to ignore the obvious signs of their sons fighting. There came a particularly loud thud and suddenly, footsteps pounded up the stairs, followed close behind by faster, rushed ones.

The door burst open, revealing James with blood running down his chin. He stormed towards the front door, Allen following at his heels, holding a hand over what appeared to be a black eye. "I'm telling you, man, just-" The door slammed in his face and he scowled, turning and going up to his room. Oliver sighed. "Just a normal day." Francois ignored them all and continued reading his book.

 _ **Time skip**_

"How did you get your nose broken again?" Maddy asked, gently wiping away some blood with a damp washcloth.

James flinched anyway, despite how gentle she was being, his face was sensitive. "Allen and I got in a fight."

Her expression didn't change but her eyes shone with a new light, something he couldn't identify. "Seriously?" She sounded like a disapproving mother. She wiped away the last of the blood and carefully grabbed his nose. "Ready?"

He nodded and she quickly pulled, his nose snapping back into place. He jerked away from her, shielding the upper half of his face with a hand. "Ow.." She smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry." He waved a hand at her, hoping it conveyed to her that it wasn't her fault. "What were you and Allen fighting about anyway?" James turned back to her, but refused to look at her. "Allen called me a sissy. He thinks I'm going soft or something."

She snorted, trying to cover the laugh by coughing. She failed miserably, finally breaking down into a fit of giggles. James watched her, an unamused expression aimed at her. "I'm glad you find my brothers insults and my misery amusing."

"I'm sorry." She said, between breaths. The giggling continued. "I just- He thinks you've gone _soft?"_ She erupted into a new wave of laughter. James rolled his eyes and sighed, his eyes narrowing at her in annoyance. After a few minutes, she cleared her throat and looked back at him, but he could tell she was struggling not to laugh again. He rolled his eyes yet again and raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you done?" She nodded, though she looked like she was struggling not to smile. The corners of her mouth kept twitching. He got up and went to the shelves on the wall, surveying her movie collection. He pulled a case off the shelf and held it up, sending her a questioning look. "You like The Walking Dead?"

She nodded, jumping up and coming to stand next to him. "Mhm. Brittany never really got into any zombie shows because she didn't really like them, but I think they're interesting."

He raised an eyebrow at her again, his expression skeptical. "You enjoy watching people getting torn apart and devoured while they're still alive by flesh eating monsters?"

She rolled her eyes, as if he'd just said both the stupidest and most offensive thing in the world. " _Actually,_ Walking Dead focuses more on the people and what they'd be like in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, not the zombies."

"Then what's the point? If I'm watching a zombie show, I want there to be zombies."

She tapped her temple. "Psychologist, remember? I enjoy watching people fall apart. Besides, there _are_ zombies in the show, they're just not made out to be unstoppable and dumb, like most zombie shows. I mean, they are depicted as slow idiotic creatures, but honestly, if the zombie apocalypse were to actually happen, I'd be more worried about the people. Competition for resources leads to disaster."

"True." He mused, putting the case back in its place on the shelf before looking at the other choices. _X-men, Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Batman?_ "You're a fan of comics?"

She blushed, but nodded. "I don't like to talk about it. I've never gotten good responses from people about it, so I try not to bring it up."

"Ah." He moved down the shelf again, stopping at three movies that seemed out of place. "Romeo and Juliet? Phantom of the Opera? Titanic? Seriously?"

"Shut up. I like a few girlier movies, okay?"

He chuckled, plucked a case out of the line and moved away from the movie shelf. He sat down and turned the DVD player on, carefully avoiding her questioning stare. "There." He leaned back, smiling despite himself. "What did you do? Did you mess up my DVD player?" He scoffed at her. "No. I turned it on and put a movie in." She sat in the papasan chair at the other end of the couch. "Which one did you pick?"

He shrugged, feigning indifference. As the theme for Phantom of the Opera started, he smirked as she stared at him in shock. He sent her an innocent look. "What? From what I've heard, you do your own little 'reviews' on movies when you're watching them. I'm interested to hear a few."

She rolled her eyes, despite the fact that she was slightly freaked out that he knew that. The last person to comment on that habit of hers had been Brittany twenty years ago. "Well, aren't you just the perfect stalker?" She muttered, ignoring his snicker. He started the movie and it wasn't long before her oldest annoyance with the movie reared up. "What does she even _see_ in Raoul? The phantom's not a bad guy, he's just... a bit obsessive."

"Christine and Raoul have known each other since they were kids."

"So? I met and got to know Brittany at a fairly young age. That doesn't mean I ever wanted to marry her."

James frowned. "I don't think that's quite the same scenario."

She rolled her eyes. "No, I know it's not, I'm just saying."

"What, you never wanted to marry any of the guys you knew as a kid?"

She scoffed. "No, they were all jerks."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Why are any people the way they are?"

"Maybe they liked you. Didn't your parents ever tell you that boys pick on girls they like?"

"I've never believed that."

"Interesting." He mumbled, paying attention to the movie again. About two thirds of the way through the movie, they were both struggling to engage in it anymore. "I forgot how long this movie is."

"I think I've actually sat down and watched it the whole way through once." She agreed, rubbing her eyes. "Honestly, I don't really like Christine or Raoul." She got up and walked out of the room, coming back a few minutes later with a glass of water. James checked the time and cringed. "I'd better get home before Allen freaks out and thinks I bled out or something." He got up and she followed him to the door. "See ya, beauty." She rolled her eyes. "Good night, James." He drove home, enjoying the night air and the silence. When he walked into the house however, he was immediately bombarded with accusing stares. "Where have you been?" Oliver asked. James shrugged. "Out."

"Out seducing the love of your life?" Allen asked, holding an ice pack to his eye. _Seems like that should've healed by now._

The blond rolled his eyes. "She's not the love of my life. And no, I wasn't trying to seduce her. We just watched a movie. Good night." He turned and walked up the stairs before anymore comments could be made. His phone beeped and he pulled it out. _You left your jacket here._

He sighed and flopped onto his bed. _I'll come by and pick it up tomorrow._

 **silverfang493: I feel like a stalker, asking you all these questions about what movies/books/tv shows you like, but it's really just so I can portray your character correctly. Sorry.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Hello." A soft voice said, tearing Severus' attention away from his essay. His green eyes locked onto a girl whom he slightly recognized. Her hair was dark and pulled into a messy bun, her eyes were a golden amber color that almost reminded him of honey, but were a shade or two too dark. She had a nice smile, one that was now aimed at him. "You're in my psych class, right? I wasn't there when he gave out the homework. Do you mind if I get it from you?"

 _She's not just here for homework._ He swallowed and smiled nervously at her, the corners of his mouth threatening to dip into a fearful frown. He quickly scribbled the assignment onto a scratch piece of paper and handed it to her. "He wanted us to do some work out of the book. It's due by the end of the week. I've already started on it and-" He was cut off by someone screaming and the sound was rapidly growing louder. He turned just in time to be tackled to the ground and he grunted. "Sev! Guess what!"

He gently pushed Abelia off him and got up, watching his apparent classmate carefully. The playfulness in her eyes seemed to have dulled a bit, but she masked her disappointment and smiled at him again. "Thank you." Her voice was overly polite and she turned and sashayed off. Bell sent him an apologetic smile. "Did I mess up your opportunity to get a date?"

Severus shook his head and put his things into his bag. "No. To be honest, I was kinda terrified."

His sister was staring at him curiously now. "Why?"

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "You know I don't talk to people very much. Especially not girls."

She sent him a coy yet sympathetic smile. "Honestly, you're such a spoilsport. Come on!" She turned and bounded away from him. "Dad says mom's plane just landed." This got the brunette boys attention and he followed his sister, periodically glancing over his shoulder. If he was being honest with himself, he was happy Bell had showed up when she had. Having social anxiety made it really hard to try and go on a date with someone. "You're such a mama's boy, Sev." This snapped him out of his train of thought and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, we've established this. At least I'm not a daddy's girl."

Abelia rolled her mismatched eyes. "You couldn't be even if you wanted to."

"Yeah, because I'm not a girl."

"That's not what I was going to say, but that too."

"What were you going to say?"

"You and dad don't have a very good relationship."

"Maybe not by your standards." Truthfully, Severus and his father didn't get along as well as they could and probably should have. They just had a hard time connecting, or at least, that's what they told everyone else. Both were content to leave the other in peace and while they both cared about each other, neither were sure how to express it. Abelia didn't have this problem and that was one thing her elder brother envied about her. While he could barely talk to his own father, she could walk up to a perfect stranger and start a normal seeming conversation. They made it home about twenty minutes later and Severus went upstairs to put his school things away. When he came downstairs, Bell was chattering away and his father was sitting next to her, partially listening and partially paying attention to his phone. Maybe his was checking the time? Sev checked the clock, then walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch. "Dad, when is mom supposed to get here?"

"About half an hour."

"We're not going to pick her up?"

"She knows how to get here. If we go to pick her up, she'll probably freak out."

The brunette boy processed that and couldn't help agreeing with his father. His mother had a habit of getting extremely uncomfortable whenever anyone did anything for her. He imagined he'd gotten his lack of social skills from her. Around forty five minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door. Severus, who'd been anxiously tapping a beat out on his knee, sprang up and rushed to the door. "I'll get it!" He fumbled with the lock, his fingers slipping until he finally got it unlocked and flung the door open, revealing his very flustered looking mother. A wide grin broke out on his face and he flung himself at her, wrapping her in a tight hug. She stumbled back, but returned his embrace and chuckled. "Well, hello to you too."

"Severus, let your mother in the door."

"He's fine, Lovi."

Despite her reassurance, the brunette boy reluctantly let go of his mother and sheepishly went back into the house, standing out of the way so she could get in. The blonde gingerly stepped into the house, directing a small smile to her daughter and hugging the brunette girl gently. As Abelia stepped away from her mother, she watched her parents send each other mischievous grins. They were slowly but surely rebuilding the fragile friendship they'd had before everything had gotten messed up. "Hey angry tomato." Lovino rolled his eyes. He still hadn't come up with a nickname that he liked for her. After leading the blonde up to the guest room, the four of them gathered in the kitchen, discussions about food and catching up melding together. They decided on pasta and then felt the need to be adventurous and make the pasta from scratch. Lovino was convinced he'd have to teach Maddy how to do it, but she simply rolled her eyes at him and dove right in, taking to the task like a fish to water. The children watched their parents, noting how comfortable they seemed, despite everything that had happened between them. Both were smiling softly, a rare sight indeed. "Where did you learn to make pasta, Ragazza?"

Maddy's small smile fell away and her eyes drifted down to her flour covered hands. "I... I don't remember." Her voice sounded broken and hollow and Lovino felt like kicking himself. Everything had been going so well! Why had he let his curiosity get the better of him? "It doesn't matter." He replied quickly, turning away from her and rolling out the dough he was holding. After a few seconds, they all went back to their tasks, but the atmosphere was far from light and joyous like it had been before. A loud, rushed knock sounded from the door and the four occupants jumped. Lovino looked ready to murder someone. "I swear, if it's that bastard again.." He stalked over to the door, followed closely but hesitantly by Maddy. If whoever had attacked Bell was really at the door, she was going to make him wish he'd never been born. Lovino wretched the door open, but the person standing outside was _not_ the bastard who'd attacked his daughter. Feliciano Vargas saw his brother's enraged expression and pinned him in a hug. "It's time for hug therapy!"

Lovino, as usual, started struggling and yelling profanities at his brother. "Screw your hug therapy!" Maddy snickered and he glared at her. The mocking laughter however, brought Feli's attention to her and he smiled widely at her. "Bella!" The blonde was suddenly enveloped in a bone crushing hug and she squirmed, wheezing out a "hello." He released her and she slumped against the wall, a hand pressed against her side. She was fairly certain none of her ribs were broken. After making sure everyone could still breathe properly, Feliciano moved farther into the house and smiled widely at both his niece and nephew. Severus looked partially terrified, but that was only because he wasn't a hugging person. "How's my favorite niece?" He asked, bringing her into a tight hug.

Abelia smiled and hugged her uncle back. "I'm your _only_ niece." She may have been a daddy's girl, but unlike her father, she happily accepted and returned her uncle's affection.

"All the more reason for you to be my favorite one." He fondly ruffled her hair before releasing her and peered into the kitchen. "Did you know that mom knows how to make pasta from scratch?" Abelia asked excitedly. She doubted her uncle had known, since her father hadn't, but there was a chance he had. This caused the italian to send the blonde a questioning look. "You know how to make pasta, bella?"

She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Yes I do." She went back into the kitchen, muttering to herself and rolling out some more dough. "Why is that always so surprising? I may not look like it, but I am part italian." She stopped, her eyes narrowed in thought. "That sounds a bit weird, with the two of you standing there." The implication of the comment went ignored by Feli because he was busy cooking some of the pasta, but Lovino rolled his eyes and joined the two of them in the kitchen. Feli was soon captured and dragged out of the house by Ludwig, who left yelling about how the italian needed to stop skipping training. Lovino just rolled his eyes and closed the door behind the two of them. He was used to his brother trying to hide from Ludwig by coming over. Dinner was put on the table about forty five minutes later and they all sat down, awkward silence enveloping the first five or ten minutes of the meal. "Mom, question."

Maddy's unfocused gaze turned toward her son and she brought herself out of her train of thought. "Hm?"

Severus picked at one of his cuticles until Bell tapped his hand. "Alfred always seems kind of uneasy around me. Why is that?"

She smiled at him, her eyes shining with mirth. "Because you got your mama's protective nature." Seeing the confusion written across his face, she continued, "You were about three. The twins were almost a year old and Bell, you weren't born yet. You were about a week late at that point. Anyway, Sev, Alfred wanted to hold Selene but you wouldn't let him. You threatened to bite him and I had to convince you to let him see her. He thought you were going to finally let him hold her and you made him go wash his hands."

Severus' face turned bright red and he looked away, refusing to meet the eyes of any of his family members. "It's alright sweetheart. You've always been protective of your sisters."

"He's not protective of Brittany." Abelia piped up.

"Yes, well, that's something they need to work out themselves."

"Wait," Bell had focused on her mother again, her eyes wide. "I was a week _late?"_

"Two weeks." Lovino corrected her. "Scared the hell out of your mother. Though, I'm sure it didn't help that she started stressing about it."

Maddy held her hands up in surrender at his glare, but her eyes held a silent challenge. "Excuse me, but you don't know the effect hormones have on a person when they're pregnant."

"Not _personally,_ no. I was around you enough to get the basic idea though."

The blonde chuckled as the many times she'd threatened to brutally murder the italian only to act like a cat a few minutes later came back to her. "Yeah, the mood swings were awful." She turned her attention back to her daughter. "But, yes, you were born two weeks after the due date the doctors told us and I freaked out because I thought something might have been wrong."

"You always assume the worst." Lovino muttered before going back to his food. Maddy stuck her tongue out at him, even though he wasn't paying attention to her the redirected her attention to her own plate. She twirled some pasta around her fork and the meal continued in silence. Abelia felt her phone vibrate and checked the message, her cheeks gaining a pink tint. She smiled, quickly lifting her napkin to her mouth to hide it. "May I be excused?" Her father nodded and she got up, putting her plate on the counter before hurrying up to her room and closing the door. She scrambled over to her window and opened it, leaning out.

"Rapunzel, rapunzel. Let down your hair."

She giggled. "Emilio, my hair isn't long enough to do that. Besides, having someone climb up your hair sounds like it would hurt."

The dark haired boy grinned up at her. "Then I'll just have to climb up the vines."

"No, both my parents are still awake. It's not even that late."

His eyes widened. "That's right. You're mom is visiting this weekend. I can come back later."

Bell shook her head. "Give me a second. I'll be right there." She turned and grabbed her jacket, shoving her feet into her boots. A knock at the door made her freeze and she hesitantly went over, peeking out. "Sev!"

Her older brother raised an eyebrow at her. "Emilio?" She bit her lip and nodded, wondering if he was going to tell their father this time. He sighed. "I'll cover for you." She smiled and gave him a quick hug, before turning and rushing back into her room. She slipped out the window and climbed down the vines growing up the side of the house. She fell off the last few feet, but sprang up and followed Emilio into the dark. Severus sighed, watching his little sister go. _If he breaks her heart, I'll break his face._ He arranged a few of her extra pillows and clothes under her blanket so it would look like she was asleep. It was the oldest trick in the book, but it seemed to have worked so far. _This is the last time, Bell._

He closed the door and went back downstairs, quickly telling his parents that Abelia was sleeping. His mother didn't seem completely convinced, but was willing to believe him. His father simply accepting the announcement, muttering about how Bell hadn't been sleeping well lately. Severus sat on the couch and a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding whooshed out of his lungs. He felt bad for lying to his parents, but Emilio was in the mafia. He'd be able to keep Bell safe, right? Plus, who was he to try and control his little sister? He felt sick. "I'm going to go to sleep." He mumbled, standing up. He was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug from his mother. He froze, stunned. She didn't usually initiate hugs. She released him and smiled softly before booping his nose with her own. "Sleep well. And feel better, you look pale." He smiled back and went upstairs, flopping on his bed. His head hurt.

A few hours later, long after they both should've gone to sleep, Lovino and Maddy were sitting up, discussing songs they liked. "I still say the original was better."

"I'll take your word for it, Ragazza. I've never heard either version."

Maddy's jaw dropped, but then she closed it with a clack and got up. "You're listening to it." She went over to the computer and went through the different functions and sites until she found YouTube. Quickly typing the name of the song into the search bar and clicked on the video, dragging Lovino over to the desk. "Listen to it." He sighed and started the video.

" _There comes a time, when we must heed a certain call. And the world, must come together as one."_

"Why are there so many different people?"

Maddy turned the volume up and paused the video. "Because they were doing a donation thing for Africa." She started it again and began pointing out the artists that she knew. "That's Lionel Richie. There's Stevie Wonder. There's Kenny Rogers. Michael Jackson. That's Diana Ross. There's Willie Nelson. I don't know who that is. No idea who he is. That's Bruce Springsteen. There's Steve Perry, he's from Journey. Oh, that's Huey Lewis. Cyndi Lauper. I don't remember who that lady is. That guy is Bob Dylan. That's Ray Charles. Um… okay, those are all the people I know."

The song ended a few minutes after and she searched for the new version, a determined glint in her eyes. Lovino leaned back and waited for her to find the video she was looking for. She skipped the introduction and steeled herself for the beginning but still groaned when Justin Beiber's voice came through the speakers. Lovino stared at the screen in shock. "Is that a boy?" The blonde nodded, fighting back both a smirk and another groan as the younger version of the popstar continued to sing. He didn't sound like a girl anymore, or at least, in the video of his that she'd watched he hadn't. She supposed though,m that that was because this video was pre-puberty and the other one had been post puberty. She wondered if people still listened to his music anymore. "That's Victoria Justice. I don't know who the other girl is. No idea what the blonde's name is. Janet Jackson duets with Michael. Randy Jackson is in this, but he doesn't come in until later." A Michael Jackson clip from the original was reused. "Okay, I don't know who that blonde lady is, but that's Miley Cyrus. I don't know who any of those people are. Oh, that's Adam Levine. He's from Maroon 5! That's Pink! I like her." Another Michael Jackson clip was reused. "That's Celine Dion!"

"The lady who sings that song from _Titanic_?"

"She sang other songs!"

Lovino raised an eyebrow at her.

"But yes, that's her."

They went back to the video. "Wait, so that girl is Victoria Justice?"

Maddy nodded. "Yeah. Hey look, there's Randy!" She pointed the man out. "He used to be a judge on American Idol."

"I see."

"Here comes the rap part."

"There's a rap part?"

The italian watched through wide eyes as the rap started and the blonde pointed out more people. "That's LL Cool J. There's Snoop Dogg. That's Will. . He played John Wraith in _Origins._ "

"Origins?"

"It's an origin story movie for Wolverine. Prequel to the X-men trilogy."

"Oh."

"That's Kanye West."

The video ended soon after and they both sat down. "They seemed more into it in the original." Lovino said finally. "You knew more people too."

Maddy blushed. "Yeah. The voices blended better in the original too."

The two kept talking, the conversation drifting from topic to topic unless they got stuck on one or their stubborn personalities clashed and they had an intense debate. Eventually, they both passed out on the couch and were found by their children in the morning.

 **Mentioned a lot of copyrighted things in this chapter, so even though, I'm sure everyone knows I don't own these things, I'm going to say it anyway. I don't own Rapunzel or American Idol.** ** _We Are The World_** **was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. I don't own** ** _Titanic, X-men Origins: Wolverine_** **and all the artists who preformed in the videos are owned by themselves.**


	17. Chapter 17

"And I thought _I_ was a heavy sleeper." Maddy muttered, planting her hands on her hips and wondering silently how he could still be asleep. She watched the italian enviously, her thoughts spinning. _How is he asleep?_ Due to developing insomnia at a young age, she was used to being the last person in the family to wake up. That wasn't the case today. Her children seemed to have inherited their father's love of sleep, so now she was standing in a silent living room, wondering what she was supposed to do with herself. Shuffling footsteps came up behind her and arms wrapped around her middle. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at her son, who was still half asleep. "Morning bugaboo."

Severus' nose scrunched up in false irritation. "Mom, you said you'd stop calling me that."

She smiled again. "I did, didn't I?" He nodded, before using her shoulder blade to scratch an itch on his chin. "Should I wake your father up?" It was going to happen sooner or later, considering she'd caused an avalanche of pillows to cover him trying to get off the couch. "Nevermind, I'll let him sleep. Are you hungry?" At her son's nod, she moved toward the kitchen. Suddenly, she stopped. "You don't want pasta, do you?"

His face scrunched up again, but this time it was due to a mixture of confusion and disgust. "Who eats pasta for _breakfast?"_

The blonde chuckled. "Your uncle." Severus detached himself from his mother and went to wake his sister. Maddy went back into the living room, watching Lovino again The kids were now banging around in the kitchen. She considered waking him up again but they'd stayed up pretty late talking the night before and he probably wasn't an insomniac like her. Waking him up now would just be cruel. She turned and went into the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee before Severus could get to it and drink it all. The sleeping habits of his parents had been passed down to him in full force, causing him to turn into a zombie every morning. Maddy chuckled and ruffled her son's hair as he passed her to get to the coffee pot. As soon as the correct ingredients were gathered, she started on pancakes, shooing the kids out of the kitchen. She appreciated that they wanted to help, but she didn't need it. Well, she actually just didn't _want_ help because she was stubborn, but she wasn't going to tell her children that. Lovino woke up just in time to sit down at the table and have a plate of pancakes put in front of him. He poked at the stack until a mug of coffee was placed in his hand and he sipped at it, a little put off by the bitter taste. While it wasn't his favorite beverage, drinking it every morning had become a habit ever since his son had started drinking it. The room was soon filled with sounds of silverware clinking against dishes and Lovino raised an eyebrow at Maddy as she sat down. "You're not eating?"

She shook her head. "I'm not a breakfast person."

Severus looked up, his bright green eyes locking onto his mother. "Ma, that's not healthy."

The blonde sighed, pain shooting through her. "Yes, I know it's not."

"You should eat."

Maddy flinched as her son said this. She knew he was trying to help her and that she really should eat, but that didn't change the fact that this entire conversation reminded her of Brittany. Her mind kept replacing Severus with her sister and she forced herself out of her train of thought before she could break down.

"I'm just saying, mom. Not eating breakfast is really unhealthy. Your stomach builds up all this stomach acid to break down food and then you don't eat, so it's just sitting there. You're basically giving yourself ulcers."

Lovino watched as she froze, staring at Severus with a mixture of sadness and guilt. She got up and left the room, wiping furiously at her eyes. Severus seemed to realize he'd upset his mother and he got up, following her out of the room. "Mom."

She ignored him and went out onto the porch, sitting down and holding her head in her hands. He sat down next to her. "Mom."

She waved him off. "I'm fine."

His shoulders drooped. "No, momma, you're not."

She sent him an amazed look and it took him a minute to figure out why. He hadn't called her that since he was a kid. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her, a small but sad smile gracing her features. "It's fine. You just.. You sounded a lot like your aunt. She was always trying to get me to eat healthier too." She pulled him into a hug and held him there for a few minutes before pulling away just enough to boop his nose with her own. "Boop."

Severus chuckled and got up, trailing his mother as they went back inside. He sat down to finish his pancakes, watching as she folded one up into a taco shape and ate it. He smiled triumphantly and ate the rest of his food. "I have some homework to work on." He put his plate on the counter, ruffled Bell's hair and kissed his mother's cheek before going upstairs. Abelia sent a message on her phone before jumping and claiming that she also had homework she needed to work on. She put her plate on the counter, hugged her father then ran upstairs. The two adults sent each other looks that said ' _what the hell just happened?'_

"Nothing from Sev." Maddy mumbled. "Not for you."

Lovino rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He'd been hoping she wouldn't notice that he and his son weren't very close. "We're working it out."

Maddy simply hummed in response, not at all convinced that they were, in fact, 'working it out.' She could leave it alone though. For now. She looked at her nails as she focused on another topic. "You think they planned that?"

Lovino sent her a confused look. "Planned…?"

"The kids. You think they planned to leave us alone like this? They've been especially persistent about getting us alone together this weekend." The lyrics to Fallout Boy's _Alone Together_ floated through her mind as she said the words, but she forced herself to pay attention to the man sitting across from her.

The italian blushed as the implication of her words finally hit him. "You know they've always wanted us to-"

"To get together." Maddy interrupted, her eyes glued to the suddenly _extremely_ interesting table. Her expression was blank, but Lovino knew her well enough to know that she was just masking her discomfort with that bland look. They'd talked about this before, things just didn't seem to change. "Yes, they have. Bell in particular. I don't think we should encourage that idea."

"Absolutely not." Lovino agreed. A relationship between them just wouldn't _work._ Sure, they were a lot alike and they worried about each other, but that was what friends did, right? Besides, it was _because_ they were so alike that anything other than friendship wouldn't function correctly. They'd probably fight about the stupidest things. There just wasn't enough good to outweigh the bad.

"We should go do something." Maddy said suddenly, pulling the italian out of his train of thought. He sent her a questioning look. "Do what?" She frowned at him and shrugged. "I don't know, just something." Lovino shook his head. "Very specific, Ragazza." She rolled her eyes at him, before getting up. "Whatever. I'm going to get dressed."

A few minutes later, Abelia walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. She paused and looked around. "Where's mom?"

"Getting dressed." Lovino replied, finishing off his coffee. He was wide awake now, but he didn't like letting drinks sit unattended.

"Are you guys going out?"

He nodded, partially paying attention to his daughter. He only brought his full attention to her after she squealed. "What?"

She smiled, her eyes lighting up. "What are you going to do?"

How she interpreted his response finally hit him and he sat upright, his gaze boring into hers. "It's not like that."

Bell smirked at her father. "Like what, dad?" She knew exactly what he meant, but she was her father's daughter. Making people uncomfortable came naturally to her. Lovino, meanwhile, was sputtering and trying to come up with the right words to tell his daughter that this _wasn't_ a date.

"Are you giving your father a hard time?"

Bell smiled innocently at her mother. "Not at all, mom."

"Yeah right." The blonde muttered, sitting at the table again. She smirked at the italian across from her. "Your face is bright red, Lovi."

The nickname only made him turn redder and he huffed. "She gets it from you!"

"Right, and you had _nothing_ whatsoever to do with it." She chuckled. "As much as I hate to admit it, my sass is nothing compared to yours. Whatever Bell has, it's from you."

Abelia smiled before hugging her tomato red father and scurrying back up the stairs. "Sev! Guess what!" She flung her brother's bedroom door open and watched as he jumped, dropping the book he'd been reading. He sent her a vexed look. "Can't you knock?"

She scowled and planted her hands on her hips. "Mom and Dad are going on a date."

Her brother simply picked up and returned his attention to his book. "I doubt it's a date. You may wish they were romantically attracted to one another, but they're just friends."

Abelia growled in the back of her throat and rolled her eyes. "Whatever, it's still a date."

"No, I'm pretty sure it isn't."

She huffed, turned and stormed out of the room. "It is so a date." She realized she sounded like a child, but she didn't care. She flopped onto her bed, clenching her blanket in her fists. Sev was so boring! Why couldn't he let her have this one delusional fantasy? She knew her parents weren't ever going to see each other as anything other than friends. Of course she knew that, she wasn't stupid! But it wasn't fair. Everything else in her life was messed up and out of control ,why couldn't this one thing be normal? Why couldn't _she_ be normal? All her friends had normal people for parents, people who were married and lived happily ever after. Why did her life have to be so complicated? She hadn't even been able to make a normal looking family tree in grade school for god's sake! Abelia scowled and burrowed deeper into her bed, covering herself with her blankets and pillows.

 _All that talent and charm wasted on that brat!_ Her thoughts turned towards Brittany and Chris. She despised Brittany, who was always strutting around like she owned the world. Like she was better than everyone else and she deserved to be the ruler. Chris just followed her around like a kicked puppy. He told her what she wanted to hear and immediately agreed with her on everything, even if she was so blatantly wrong that everyone could see she'd messed up. She thought she was perfect and such a damn princess! She was so charming and had so many people, both male and female, lining up to date her and she'd just toss them aside when she was bored with them, but still they went to her. She always looked down her nose on her half siblings, as if they were less than her, even though Sev had been born first. The brunette girl curled into a ball under her comforter and soon fell asleep, her thoughts still racing.

* * *

"Ragazza, you're going to fall down the stairs."

Maddy rolled her eyes and continued down the stone steps, but Lovino could just barely hear her mutter, "Absolutely no faith in me."

Lovino followed her down the stairs, rolling his eyes back at her, even though she couldn't see. "How many times have you sprained your ankle falling down stairs?"

"Shut up! As if you've never sprained your ankle!"

"Not falling down the stairs."

She turned and stuck tongue out at him, her expression telling him that he needed to shut up if he knew what was good for him. He knew her better though and knew that no matter how much he annoyed her, she wouldn't do anything to him. He ruffled her hair as he passed her and she smacked his wrist, storming after him. "Lovino! Where are we even going?"

"You're the one who said we should go do something."

"You live here! How am _I_ supposed to know what there is to do?"

"Maybe you should actually come up with a plan before waltzing off somewhere then."

"I didn't 'just waltz' out here!" She rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, "I don't even know how to waltz." Her gaze drifted up, taking in the architecture and suddenly, her eyes widened and she gasped. "The coliseum! It's so pretty!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "That place is overrated."

"You see it everyday! Of course _you_ think it's overrated!"

"You mean, like how you think pumpkin spice is overrated?"

She growled at him, but allowed him to lead her toward some of the other tourist destinations. He watched as her eyes widened until it looked like they were going to pop out of her head. He let her go ahead of him, smiling slightly. She was spinning around, a child like sense of wonder and amazement shining in her eyes. "Wow.." She almost looked like she'd forgotten how to breath or at least, it didn't seem like it was a priority. Her foot caught her leg and she stumbled. He shook his head and reached out, grabbing her shoulder. "Careful." She blushed and stood up, carefully avoiding his gaze. She looked around again, that joyful glint coming back. "Postcards really don't do this place justice."

"Of course not." He scoffed, crossing his arms. "It's- where are you going!?"

She had started walking toward a crowd on the other side of the street. He sighed and followed her, grumbling about being ignored. They made it to the group and saw that two men were handing out flyers for some sort of reenactment. "We should see it!" She said, her eyes shining. Lovino considered saying no, but he realized he hadn't seen her this happy in… years. He sighed again. "Fine." They made their way towards the building, it was kind of like a miniature version of the coliseum and sat in their seats. Two men came up to them a few minutes later and struck up a conversation, smiling all the while. Lovino scowled. They'd been enjoying the silence and he knew what these two bozos were trying to do. Maddy looked like she had no idea how to handle the situation. She knew they were trying to flirt with her and usually, she could come up with some sort of scathing remark to get them to leave her alone, but her mind went blank. Lovino wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sent the men a death glare. "We were just discussing what to do after this, right, _darling?"_

"Darling?" Maddy turned to him and sent him a look that was both questioning and pissed. She turned back just in time to see the men walk away, muttering angrily. As soon as they were out of her sight, she threw Lovino's arm off. "What the hell was that? I could have handled them!"

Lovino simply pulled out his phone. _Hey, Williams. I just stopped some guys from hitting on your ex. You're welcome._

It didn't take long for the canadian to respond. _What?_

"Lovino Vargas! Don't ignore me!" Maddy seethed. She was partially glad he'd intervened into the situation, but the other part of her was pissed. She'd had the problem handled! She didn't need his help to drive away annoying pests! As the reenactment started, she turned away from him and tried to focus her attention towards the actors. She'd chew him out later.

 **Alright, this has come up quite a few times in the story now. Severus has continuously been referred to as a "mama's boy" and that's because he is, but I realized I haven't really touched on the relationships the other kids have with their family members. I'd spend a few chapters talking about it, but I kinda want to get the plot moving along, so we'll do this instead:**

 **Severus-** total mama's boy, very protective of Selene and Abelia, mostly just tolerates Brittany and Chris, not the best relationship with his father, good relationship with his uncle Feli, has his parents sass it's just not as obvious (he's better at controlling it)

 **Brittany-** while she loves and respects her parents she's closest to her uncle Alfred, extremely protective of her baby brother, would do just about anything for her twin, tolerates the existence of her half siblings

 **Selene-** (she's basically her mother reincarnated) loves her parents but she's not super close to them like her half siblings, would do just about anything for her twin, loves her younger brother but has trouble expressing it, loves her older brother to death, pretty close to her younger sister

 **Abelia-** total daddy's girl (that was obvious though) Lovino loves his baby girl and will spoil her if it's an appropriate situation (he'd probably let her take over the world if she wanted to), loves her mom but isn't going to act like a koala like Sev, adores her older brother but thinks he's a spoilsport, despises Brittany, thinks Chris is just a kicked puppy, tolerates Selene's attempts at affection, boyfriend- emilio

 **Chris-** loves his parents but spends most of his time with his grandfather, not super close to his uncle, follows Brittany around like a lost puppy, not close to either of his half siblings, working on a relationship with Selene


	18. Chapter 18

"Hey Doll, guess what I heard."

Maddy sighed and rolled her eyes before sending Allen a glare. "What did you hear?"

He frowned, his glasses propped up on his head as usual. "You're supposed to guess."

"Allen, the poppet and I are busy." Oliver interjected, his bright blue gaze focused on the cupcakes he was currently frosting. "Either tell her or go away."

The baseball wielding nation pouted for a minute then looked at the blonde again. "I heard you were going crazy."

Her expression didn't change, except for the eyebrow she raised at him. "Did you? Well, I heard that you can go fuck yourself."

Allen's jaw dropped and Oliver jumped, dropping the cupcake he was frosting in shock. "Poppet! Language!"

She turned back to the pink haired man and sent him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Oliver." She pulled some money out of her pocket and put it in the swear jar. He smiled at her and patted her head. "It's okay poppet."

"I see how it is." James said, leaning against the kitchen doorframe. "I bring you over to bake with Oliver since you're having a panic attack and baking helps you calm down and you repay me by dissing my brother."

She grinned at him. "It's what I do best after all." She helped Oliver finish frosting the cupcakes and they put another batch in before joining Allen and James in the living room. The conversation didn't really go anywhere interesting, but Maddy listened eagerly anyway. She was mostly just trying to find out any weaknesses she could exploit. "Hey Allen, I figured out why you call every girl 'doll.'"

He sent her a wary yet curious look. "Did you?"

"Mhm." She replied nonchalantly. "It's because dolls are the only way you get any action."

James choked on his drink and coughed violently, spewing water onto his jeans and the carpet. Oliver stared at her in shock and Allen's jaw was hanging open. "Poppet!"

"Where is all the sass coming from?" Allen whispered, his eyes wide.

She grinned at him. "It's always been here, dearie." She glanced at James and her eyes widened with worry. "James, your face is turning really red. Either laugh or breathe."

He snickered and took a deep breath, trying to keep his laughter contained. "Bro, you just got owned." He snorted and covered his mouth, attempting to hold it in. " _Dearie."_ The bad imitation was apparently too much for him, because he burst out laughing and kept at it until his sides hurt. "Oh my god."

"It wasn't even that funny, James." Maddy told him, her voice tinged with worry.

"Except that it was." He replied, wiping at his eyes. "That was great."

The oven beeped before she could reply and she followed Oliver into the kitchen, watching him pull the cupcakes out and set them on the stove. "They're not poisoned, are they?" Oliver frowned at her and she grinned, chuckling softly. "You know I'm just teasing. Don't be mad at me." The pink haired man frowned again but this time it was in defeat. His shoulders slumped as he realized he _couldn't_ be mad at her. "I'm not poppet."

She smiled at him again, a small smile that made his stomach feel fluttery and he looked away. _Cupcakes. Focus on the cupcakes._

"There should be a warning sign on my dick." Allen interjected, his eyes gleaming with what he perceived as an oncoming victory.

"Really?" Maddy replied, only partially paying attention to him. She couldn't care less about the words coming out of his mouth, but maybe she'd be able to roast him again. She enjoyed that. "And what would that warning sign be?"

Allen grinned. She was taking the bait! "Choking hazard."

She finally looked him in the eye, her gaze piercing through him. "Isn't that the warning they put on small objects?"

James choked, coughed and spewed water all over again. He coughed again, laughing betweens breaths. "Remind me not to drink anything around you anymore."

"Noted." Maddy replied, turning her attention back to Oliver, who was staring at her. "What?"

He blinked and shook his head, before saying too quickly, "Nothing poppet!"

"Okay.." She didn't completely believe him, but was willing to let it go. She was honestly surprised he'd warmed up to her as fast as he had. He was one of the very few people who didn't seem to hold the past against her. "Hey." She looked up, locking eyes with James. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey..?"

He fidgeted under her gaze. "When- when was the last time you had a-" He paused and cleared his throat. "One of your-"

"One of my hallucinations?" She interrupted, her patience wearing thin at his manner. He nodded and she rolled her eyes, anger and irritation curling around her heart like a snake. She hated it when people did this to her. Alfred had done it. Arthur did it. Matthew did it. She wasn't some porcelain doll that could shatter at any minute. "Honestly, James, if you're going to talk about my mental problems, don't act like you're speaking in code. It's not some huge secret that no one can know. In fact, I'm pretty sure no one I know is unaware of the fact that I'm mentally unstable. And to answer your question, I haven't had any recently. I've actually been taking my medication, thank you very much." She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed at him coldly.

"Good for you poppet. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Oliver. Good to know _someone_ realizes I can take care of myself."

James looked completely and utterly cowed and Oliver was trying to hold back a laugh. He was pretty sure he'd never seen James look so embarrassed or unsure of himself. This girl certainly seemed to keep him on his toes. She turned away from him and faced Oliver. "Are the cupcakes cool enough to frost?"

He nodded and got the frosting, pushing it over to her. They began frosting the cupcakes, Maddy purposely ignoring James and avoiding having to say anything to him or look at him. Sure, the silent treatment was immature, but she didn't feel like coming up with anymore comebacks to use on him. Oliver yelped and Maddy turned to him to see what was wrong. He'd dropped a bag of flour. Time seemed to slow as she stuck out a hand to catch it, but it was just out of reach. They both flinched, waiting for the impact and the cloud of flour to explode on them.

It didn't happen. They both peeked at the flour, eyes growing wide as they registered that it was floating. "H-how-"

"Try moving it, poppet."

Too confused to question the command, Maddy lifted her arm, watching as the bag of flour followed the motion. It tilted as she twisted her arm, almost spilling before she righted it again. "That's not normal." She said finally, allowing the flour to drop with a soft thud.

Oliver, however, smiled. "Poppet, you can do magic."

Her stomach churned. "But that's-" She'd been planning to say that that was impossible. There was no way she could have magic, but the bag started floating as she focused on it again.

Oliver smiled reassuringly, noticing her discomfort. "Don't worry poppet. It'll be fine. Let's clean up and then you can let it sink in." Eventually, all the cupcakes were frosted and the kitchen was cleaned up. Oliver called up the stairs for Allen and Francois, whom hadn't interacted with the rest of them for a few days now. Maddy decided not to comment on it, despite her growing curiosity. It wasn't her business, after all. What right did she have to stick her nose in it? That mental speech had gone through her head many times and it just barely worked. She was itching to figure out what Francois was up to when he disappeared. She also wanted to know why Allen and James kept locking the basement door. It was just a basement, right? Unless it wasn't. She looked up and took a quick survey of the room. James was sitting on the couch with a book, Allen had come downstairs and was now trying to get his attention. The basement door wasn't within sight of the couch. If she was quick… "Oliver, I'll be right back."

"Alright poppet."

 _He didn't even question it!_ She carefully folded the rag she'd been using to wipe the counter off and placed it by the sink. Walking out of the kitchen, she looked completely natural and like she was just exploring the house. Once she'd gotten out of sight of both the kitchen and the living room, however, she began tiptoeing towards the door, her heart pounding. She stopped every few steps, both to make sure no one was about to catch her sneaking around and because -to her at least- her footsteps sounding like an elephant was clomping around the hall. She reached the basement door, checking around again. It seemed that no one had realized what she was doing. She reached out and jiggled the doorknob, hoping but doubtful that it would be unlocked. It wasn't. Despite suspecting it would be locked, she was still miffed. Her hands were moved to her hips as she stared at the door quizzically. She wasn't surprised it was locked, with the way James and Allen crept in and out of it, acting like it was a bank vault with some precious treasure in it. She looked around, searching for something to open the door with. Normally, she'd just try and break it down, but that wouldn't work, considering she was trying to be stealthy. She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and inserted it into the keyhole, not completely sure the movie trope would work.

After a few minutes, she stopped. The single bobby pin wasn't working and she didn't have the rest of her pins. Maybe the credit card trick? She patted her pockets, finding that that idea was a bust. She didn't even have her wallet, much less her card. She supposed she could sneak around the house until she found the key, but that would look suspicious and she'd already spent a lot of time on this. If she was gone too long, Oliver would get suspicious or worried and come looking for her. Plus, the key was probably with James or Allen -the former being more likely- and she couldn't just walk up to one of them and ask for it.

"What are you doing?"

She jumped, mentally cursing and screaming at herself. She'd taken too long! She took a deep breath to calm herself down and turned to face James, plastering what she hoped was an innocent smile on her face. "Exploring."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Exploring a locked door?"

Her smile threatened to fall. She could feel the corners of her mouth twitching. "What's in the basement? Why's it locked?"

James suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. His eyes flicked between her and the door in question. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um.. it's where I could Kumajiro. Oliver doesn't like him wandering around the house." The polar bear, having heard his name, came ambling down the stairs and stood next to the blond man.

Maddy raised an eyebrow at him. "He's supposed to be in the basement, huh?" She could believe Oliver not liking the bear wandering around. Knowing the people that lived here, Allen probably got in fights with the bear all the time. Not to mention the fur that would be left behind when it shed. Unlike Matthew's Kuma (who had shed so much, it looked like it was constantly snowing in the house), this bear was full grown.

The explanation just didn't seem to fit.

James silently cursed himself for not coming up with a better explanation. Now she knew -or at least suspected- that he was lying. "S-sometimes, I let him stay in my room."

She raised an eyebrow at him again. "So he's either stuck in the basement or your room? No wonder he attacked you." An animal like that needed more space than what was provided in a basement or bedroom.

James glanced down at the scars on his chest, blushing in embarrassment. "He's always been a little unpredictable."

"He's a polar bear." Maddy stated bluntly. "Of course he's unpredictable." She actually hadn't ever interacted with the bear and honestly had no desire to. Being bitten by a dog had been bad enough, being mauled by a polar bear sounded much worse.

James looked away from her, the bluntness of her statement hitting him hard. She knew he was lying. He was caught and he wasn't sure what to do. He cleared his throat uneasily. "Well, yes, I suppose that's true."

"You _suppose?"_ Her voice had taken on that irritated, disbelieving tone it did when she knew she was right and so did whoever she was talking to, but they kept trying to argue with her.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began dragging her away from the door. "Oliver was wondering where you were."

"Well then, why didn't Oliver come get me?"

He flinched. "I told him I'd figure out where you were."

Maddy allowed herself to be led back to the kitchen, but her mind kept returning to the door and how obvious James' lie had been. That just sent her thoughts in circles, constantly coming back to the same question.

What was in the basement?

 **pinkittwice54: Yes, the italian chapter. I wanted t do more with uncle Feli and Great-Grandpa Rome too, but I really want to get the plot moving. Most of these chapters have just been filler, to be honest. It's been my attempt to build relationships between the characters, but the plot needs to happen. Your character is coming back, just not yet. Soon though, within the next few chapters.**


	19. Chapter 19

"Selene!"

The albino looked up from her book, her eyes landing on Aaron, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head and clung to her like a koala. "I have to go on a plane in half an hour."

Her eyes widened. "That's right. You're flying out to see your grandmother today." He nodded and she pet his hair, marking her place in her book. She closed it so she could turn her full attention on him. "It's going to be okay. You're not going to die."

"You don't know that!" He snapped, his anxiety and fear making him more irritable than usual. He sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just-"

"Nervous." Selene finished, petting him again. "It's fine. I get it. You know I get the same way with snakes." Despite the fact that the rest of her family either absolutely adored snakes or was pretty neutral about them, Selene hated the scaly things. They just creeped her out.

The half hour passed quicker than Selene had been expecting it to and probably quicker than Aaron had wanted it to. He clung to her for a few more minutes, shaking. Finally, he stood up holding her hand. "If I never see you again, I love you." He dropped her hand and walked away.

Selene blinked and stared after him. "I love you too…? I guess..." With that in mind, she went back to her book and put her headphones on, tapping a tune from one of her favorite songs on her thigh. It wasn't until her shoulder was being shaken violently that she realized she'd tuned out the world and school had ended. The albino got up and followed her twin to the main hallway. "Honestly, get a room." Selene hissed, staring at the couple in disdain, her stomach churning and feeling like it was about to explode. The couple being glared at didn't hear her, but Brittany followed her sister's gaze and snickered. "Jealous, sis?"

Selene scoffed at the notion and turned her attention to her twin. "No. They're disgusting."

Brittany chuckled, twisted delight shining in her eyes. "How so?" She was trying desperately to hold back a mocking smile.

The albino crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at her twin sister. "You know very well how I view couples that make out in the hallways."

"I suppose showing affection _would_ be strange to someone like you." Brittany agreed, grinning widely as her twin sent her an 'I'm going to kill you' look.

"It's not the affection!" Selene protested. "I don't care if they kiss and hold hands and things like that, but don't eat each other's faces in front of me."

"Oh, you mean like this?" Selene looked over just in time to see her sister passionately kissing her boyfriend. The albino groaned, rolled her eyes and stormed away. Brittany released her significant other and chased after her fuming sister, cackling. "You know you love me!" She grabbed her twin's arm.

Selene threw her sister's hand off and glared at her. "You're despicable."

Brittany ignored the insult, grinning wickedly. "You're jealous!" She singsonged.

Selene's ruby red eyes narrowed, her gaze locked onto her sister's. "Is that the fourth or fifth boyfriend this month? Does dad know about your reckless love life?"

Brittany's laughter stopped, the sound being almost snapped off and her icy blue eyes narrowed. "Dad doesn't know jack squat about me in general."

"Maybe if you actually _talked_ to him, he might."

The blonde scowled and followed her sister outside, pushing her way through the crowd of students attempting to leave the school. Her gaze was drawn to a man to looked a lot like her father, but something was off. "Who's that?"

"What do you mean 'who's that?' Can't you recognize your own ex?"

Brittany scowled, the mention of this particular ex bothering her. Things hadn't ended well between them, Selene remembered suddenly. "Not her!" Brittany finally found her voice, grabbed her sister's head and directed her gaze to the strange man. "Him!"

"Oh, that's the guy who spontaneously showed up at mom's, remember?" Selene replied nonchalantly. Was she supposed to care that he was there? "We freaked mom out and she made us stay our rooms until he was gone."

Brittany huffed. "Yes, I remember! But why is he _here?"_

Her sister shrugged. "I don't know."

"You're no help at all. Did mom ever say what his name is?"

"No. I don't really care what his name is."

"Maybe you should!" She looked again. "Crap."

Selene looked up, her interest drawn. "What?"

"I think he sees us," Brittany replied simply, standing awkwardly as the man spotted them and waved. "Why isn't he coming over here?"

"Do you actually _want_ someone like that to get within arms reach of us?"

"Well... no."

"Then what's the problem?"

"He's being creepy!"

"He does that sometimes." A new voice behind them said and both girls jumped, turning to see a man who looked unsettlingly similar to their uncle. He sent them a shark-like grin, revealing a missing tooth. "Hey, girls. Name's Allen, so don't go and confuse me with your uncle. Porkchop ain't half the man I am."

"Enough Al. You're scaring them." The blond man gripped their shoulders and turned them away from Allen. "You can just ignore him. That's what I do."

"Hey!"

The girls wrenched themselves out of the blond's grip, backing away from him. He shook his head, smiling slightly. "Honestly girls. I'm not going to hurt you."

 _There'd be too many witnesses._ Selene thought wildly, her mind racing. They had to get away from these two. She clutched her sister's hand, interlocking their fingers to make sure she had a good grip.

Allen came over and looped an arm around Brittany's waist. "Nah, he won't lay a finger on either of you. He's too head over heels in love with your mom to do anything to the two of you. Now, me on the other hand," He shrugged. "I just might hurt you, if you don't behave."

The blond frowned. "Allen quit it."

"Why don't you make me?"

The blond sighed. "If we cause a scene here, we're not going to be able to do anything."

Allen shrugged. "You're the one who wants to go through with this, James."

"It was _your_ idea!" James shot back, his eyes narrowing.

Brittany gently picked Allen's arm off her waist and ducked under it to get away. He was too busy arguing with James to girls began to back away, pausing every few steps to see if either man noticed what they were doing. Finally, they couldn't take it anymore. Hearts pounding, they turned and bolted down the sidewalk. "Hey!" They ignored the surprised exclamation from the two men and pushed their way through a crowd of students. Many grumbled in annoyance while others simply ignored them or moved out of their way.

Selene was having trouble keeping up with her sister. Brittany had always been the athlete of the family, leaving the rest of her kin to go run a marathon or hike a mountain. Even now, the blonde girl was outpacing her twin, shoving people out of the way and careening around corners. The albino's foot caught on a rock and she tripped, the skin on her hands and elbows getting scraped off. Her breath hissed out between her teeth as she sat up, but she felt something prick her neck and she reached up, pulling a tranquilizer out of her skin. She stared at it for what was probably less than a minute but felt like an eternity. Her vision swam and then went black.

* * *

Maddy jumped as her phone rang. She wasn't used to people calling her, most people she talked to just texted her. She picked the phone up, her mind beginning to race as she saw the caller ID. "Matthew? What's up?"

"Are the girls with you?"

"What? I Thought they were with you. Don't they usually pick their things up from there before they come over here?" To be completely honest, she'd almost forgotten the girls were coming over that weekend. All three of them were coming and leaving their brothers at home because Bell had wanted to spend some time with just her mother and sisters. Brittany hadn't liked the idea but had decided to go along with it.

"Yeah, they usually do, but they haven't shown up yet and I thought, maybe they just took their stuff with them to school and headed straight over there."

She shook her head, even though he couldn't see. "No, they're not here. Like I said, I thought they were with you." Despite how calm she sounded, she was actually freaking out. If the girls weren't with Matthew and hadn't gotten here yet, then where were they? Had something happened to them? Her phone beeped. "Matthew, hold on, I've got another call."

"What? But this is important!"

"The other one might be too." She clicked over to the other line before he could argue. "Hello?"

"Is Bell with you?" Lovino asked. He sounded out of breath like he'd just run all over town looking for something. Or someone.

Dread was forming a deep pit in her stomach. "No, I figured she was still on the plane or something."

"She was supposed to call me when she got off the plane, but she hasn't called yet and she's usually out of the airport by now."

That wasn't completely true. Abelia was usually really good about calling her father to let him know she was off the plane. Every few times, however, she forgot to do it as soon as she left the airport and just called him a little later with some excuse. "Then where is she?"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not in the same country as her!"

She hung up and sat down before she could _fall_ down. Her stomach churned and she suddenly felt like she was going to throw up. Where were her children? Obviously, something had happened, but what? Despair and anger clashed as she got up, pacing back and forth. She wanted to hurt someone, but couldn't take her mind off the pain curling around her heart. The last time she'd felt like this had been when Brittany had gone missing and that revelation didn't help her mood. Her head was spinning and it was hard to focus. She got up, making her way to the kitchen.

Matthew found her hurling glasses at the wall. Blood was seeping from scratches on her hands and arms, he assumed those were from stray shards of glass. Every step she took left bloody footprints on the tile floor. "What are you doing?" He yelled, grabbing her arm before she could chuck another glass against her wall.

"What the hell does it _look_ like I'm doing?" She snapped, tearing her arm out of his grasp and succeeding in her mission to break the glass. She reached for yet another glass, but her energy seemed to run out or maybe the blood loss was finally taking effect because she leaned heavily against the counter, her vision swimming. "God damn it.." She muttered, pushing herself up and out of the kitchen, a trail of blood following her to the couch. Matthew ran to the bathroom, grabbed medical supplies and crouched down next to the couch. "This is all my fault." She mumbled as he knelt next to her.

"It's not your fault." He snapped, knowing how she got when she was upset like this. The smallest thing became the focus of her logic and somehow, she always managed to make things her fault. He examined her feet, pulling out the bigger shards and applying hydrogen peroxide. "You're lucky these didn't cut deeper. You almost needed stitches."

"I can handle stitches." She replied, not looking at him, not even flinching as he pulled the glass out of her skin. "And yeah, it _is_ my fault." Maddy tried hard not to cry as that realization sunk in fully. This was all her fault. She knew exactly who had kidnapped her children. That was all it could be, after all, because they would've called or shown up by now otherwise.

"How is it your fault?" Matthew asked, calmly finishing bandaging her feet and helped her sit up. He gently grabbed her wrist and began pulling glass out of her hand and arm. She flinched, her breath hissing out through her teeth and she drew her arm back. He watched her, his heart pounding. "Sorry." She shook her head and looked away from him, her eyes unfocused. He resumed his task, trying to ignore the way his stomach was getting all fluttery. He refused to voice his earlier question again, mostly because it looked like she was trying to figure what to say.

"I know who took them." She mumbled finally, still not looking at him.

He froze, her fingers poised out to apply more antibiotics to her arm. "H-how?" His mind raced. "Who _took_ them? Are you suggesting they were abducted because I think you're jumping to conclusions. They may have just gotten into an accident or stuck in traffic."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No, Matthew, that's not what happened. If they had gotten into an accident, we would've heard it on the news or gotten a call from the hospital. If they were stuck in traffic, one of them would've called to let us know."

"Maybe their phones are dead."

"They're _teenage girls._ Their phones are not dead."

His eyes narrowed. "Alright, fine. They were abducted. By who?"

She looked like she was about to respond, but his phone rang. He sent it to voicemail, mentally decreeing that it was nothing. A minute later, it rang again and he stood, irritation sparking. _This better be important._ "Hello?"

"Matty, you need to come see this!"

"Al, I'm kind of busy."

"No, Arthur did a spell and something happened. You need to see this. Now."

"Al-" The American had already hung up, leaving his brother in silence.

"That sounded important," Maddy muttered, adjusting a bandage. "You should go."

"Quit picking at it," Matthew replied, watching her mess with the cotton. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Are you… going to be okay?"

"I'll be just peachy." She snapped, the sarcasm and anger dripping from her voice like venom. "Get going."

He rolled his eyes and left, driving until he got back to the house. Why had Arthur been doing magic? Matthew shook his head and pushed the door open, locking it behind him. He didn't really need to worry about that sort of thing, but it was a habit he'd picked up from Maddy and had unintentionally passed down to his children. "Alright, Al. I'm here. What is it I needed to see?" He was nearly tackled to the ground and stumbled, catching himself on a wall. "What is wrong with you?"

Alfred grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him towards the kitchen. "I just- You- you just- you need to see this. I don't know... h-how to explain." He seemed at a loss for words, which was what tipped Matthew off that maybe this was actually a big deal. Alfred was hardly ever speechless. The two made their way into the kitchen and stopped, seeing Arthur gaping at a form on the floor. The figure sat up, brunette tresses falling to her shoulders and caramel brown eyes watching the three of them curiously.

"Hey, guys." She was tackled in a hug by Alfred. Matthew couldn't decide if his brother was about to cry or smile. Arthur was staring at the girl warily, as he wasn't sure she was real.

Matthew's head spun. What had Arthur done? Why was she here? She was supposed to be dead!

"Brittany?"


	20. Chapter 20

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Brittany asked her expression one of confusion. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You're back," Arthur said finally, still staring at her.

"I've always been here. You guys are acting weird."

Alfred blinked and exchanged a look with his brother. "Brittany, what year is it?"

"Isn't it 2016?"

Everything started to make sense. "No. That's not even close to what year it is. Do you have any idea how long you've been gone?"

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance and she crossed her arms. "I wasn't aware I was _gone_ at all. Mind filling me in?"

It only took about ten minutes to explain that twenty years had passed. She seemed to refuse to accept the fact that they'd all thought she was dead, however. "It's not a safe assumption to make!" Brittany snapped as Alfred backed away from her. He'd made the mistake of claiming that the conclusion they'd all reached was justified. "Just because Lukas pushed me off that building-" She stopped, her eyes widened and she shot to her feet. "Where is Lukas? You don't just tell a person something like that and then shove them off a roof!" She marched past them and towards the front door.

"Brittany, that's not going to solve anything," Matthew said automatically, chasing her down. "He's probably at home, like always. I've haven't really talked to him lately." By lately, he meant _in years._

"Wait, what did he tell you?" Alfred asked, his expression morphing from confusion to jealousy as ideas of what the Norwegian could've said popped into his mind.

"Nothing," Brittany mumbled blushing, only confirming Alfred's suspicions. Suddenly, the brunette looked up. "Wait, where's Maddy? Did she get out alright?"

Matthew's stomach dropped and he sighed. "Physically or mentally?"

"What? Does it matter?"

"Physically, she's fine. Or at least, not close to dying. Mentally..." He trailed off, trying to find a way to describe the predicament. "Well, mentally, she could be better." Brittany looked both perplexed and concerned. He sighed again and guided her to the couch. He sat down, rubbing the back of his neck. "You have to understand, for the past twenty years, we've all thought you were dead. It seemed like the only logical explanation after Lukas told us he pushed off that building and then no one could find a body." He stopped, taking a deep breath. He was getting off topic. "I told you how bad Maddy got after you were kidnapped and obviously, she just got worse after you 'died.' Arthur, Lukas, and Vlad, they cast this spell and I'm actually not sure what it was supposed to do, but it caused something completely different. I'll come back to that. Basically, what you need to know is, Maddy developed PTSD and schizophrenia."

"The PTSD, I can understand, but seriously? Lunar sickness too?" Brittany asked, her joking tone forced.

Despite the severity of the situation, a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, Brittany, lunar sickness too. I'm not exactly sure why that one happened, but it did."

"Well, let me see her!" Brittany said, jumping up. "Where is she? Upstairs?"

The small smile fell away. "Ah, no. She's not."

"Well then, where is she? Backyard? Basement?" The brunette began listing off more places. But Matthew wasn't paying attention. He had a hand against his mouth, trying not to fall apart.

"Um, Brittany," Alfred wrapped an arm around her shoulders, causing her to stop talking. "Sidekick, you know I love you but stop. She's not here at all."

Brittany stopped, trying to process that. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Is she dead? Is that why you're all acting like me wanting to see her is taboo or something?" Her mind started racing. Was her sister dead?

Alfred gaped at her and he flailed his free arm around, attempting to come up with some sort of response. "N-no! She's not dead! Far from it! No, um, well, you see-"

"We broke up," Matthew said finally, interrupting his floundering brother.

"What!?" Brittany screamed, turning to him. "You two broke up? After everything I did to get you together?" Truthfully, she was less concerned with all the work she'd put into getting them together and more wanted to know _why_ they'd broken up. "Why?"

A ring from his phone stopped him from answering. Matthew rolled his eyes, pulling his phone out of his pocket and walking away from the other three people in the room. Prepared to ignore the call, he glanced at the caller ID and reluctantly answered it. "Hey, Vargas."

"Williams, where are you?" Lovino asked, rustling from his end of the line making it's way to Matthew's ear. "Are you at home?"

Matthew nodded, before remembering the italian couldn't see him. "Yeah. Where else would I be?"

Lovino scoffed. "Searching for your daughters."

"So you know about it."

"Of _course_ I do!" There was a muffled shout and Lovino sighed. "Severus wants to know how the ragazza is."

The blond pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's doing as well as anyone would expect in a situation like this. Listen, I've got to go. Something's come up."

"What do you mean ' _something's come up?'_ Your children are missing!"

"Yes, I'm aware." Matthew snapped, hanging up and stalking back over to the trio of people at the other side of the room. "It sounds like Lovino is coming over." He'd never use the italian's first name in his presence but around other people, he did. He'd decided after a while that just using 'Vargas' was confusing to anyone who didn't know beforehand which one he meant.

"Why is Lovino coming over here?" Brittany asked in confusion, her attention momentarily drawn away from her earlier question that had yet to be answered.

"Let's focus on that tomorrow," Arthur said. "It's getting late. We should all get some sleep."

Matthew showed them all to guest rooms before any arguments could come up and sank onto the couch once everyone else was at least, in their rooms. He blinked rapidly, trying not to cry once again. He jumped as footsteps sounded behind him then Alfred sat next to him. Matthew looked away from his brother, hoping he hadn't noticed how close he was to breaking down.

"Matty, it's gonna be fine," Alfred said finally. "We're going to find them."

Matthew ignored him, trying to subtly wipe tears off his face. "You don't know that." He muttered. Of course, he wanted to find his daughters and bring them home safely. What father wouldn't? But he also knew that finding them would be difficult and they wouldn't be the same when they got back.

Alfred scowled at his brother. "I do know that we're going to find the girls actually. The people in our family are way too stubborn to give up on them. Besides," He knew this rant wasn't coming out the way he'd wanted it to, but hopefully, if he kept going, it would. "They're tough and they don't take crap from anyone. They're going to give whoever kidnapped them hell and then, said kidnappers will still have to deal with the rest of us." There was a pause. "Why didn't you tell Brittany about the kids? She's going to find out."

Matthew sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I think she's had enough dumped on her for today. I'll tell her about the kids tomorrow. Or... whenever Lovino gets here."

Lovino and Severus showed up at the door the next day, both looking disheveled and cross. "I _told_ you," Lovino hissed at his son as Matthew led them into the living room. "You can't just run off and recklessly throw yourself into the first half-baked plan that pops into your head."

Severus rolled his eyes and ignored his father, displaying a rebellious and snarky side of himself that rarely showed up. Matthew frowned, deciding now would be a good time to check on Brittany. She was just coming out of her room, yawning. "Good morning."

Matthew smiled half-heartedly at her. "Morning." He wasn't sure he could call this a _good_ morning. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine." Loud arguing drew her attention away from him and she frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"It's just Lovino and Severus. They've been at each other's throats since they got here."

"Who's Severus?"

Matthew felt like kicking himself. "He's... it'll be easier to explain once you've been introduced." Brittany followed him, glancing around curiously. It was then that the canadian realized this was the brunette's first time being in the house.

"You can't just run off and not tell anyone where you are!"

They arrived in the living room and the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Matthew put an arm to stop Brittany from walking away closer to the two arguing italians, distantly wondering if he was about to have enormous property damage to pay for.

"Well, maybe if you actually acknowledged my existence, you'd realize I told you exactly where I was going and you just didn't pay attention!" Severus yelled back at his father. "You're just pissed because now that your _precious_ baby girl is missing, you have to actually interact with your son!"

Shock flashed across Lovino's face, but it was gone in a second and his eyes narrowed. "You're not thinking clearly!"

"Neither are you!"

Lovino groaned. "You are just like your mother! You're both too stubborn and prideful to admit you're wrong!"

Matthew found himself silently agreeing with the italian, though he found it amusing that Lovino couldn't see those qualities within himself.

"I'd rather be like mom than like you!" Severus countered, his eyes blazing. "She actually has feelings and pays attention to all her kids. You spoil Bell so much, I'm surprised you haven't let her take over the entire world! Yet, here I am, completely ignored."

"You're older. You can take care of yourself."

"Don't give me that! You're just trying to ease your own guilt because you know I'm right. You've always loved Bell more than me. You just don't want to be wrong so you'll keep denying that you've always had a favorite child."

Lovino's expression had changed from shock to something that almost resembled hurt. "That's not-"

"No wonder you're the less important half of Italy." Severus spat, turning away from his father and storming out of the house, the door slamming behind him. Matthew looked between the door and Lovino, who looked like he was about to break down sobbing. Brittany looked like she was trying process everything that had just happened. "Lovino has children?" She said finally. Matthew sighed and nodded. "With _who?"_

"That's kind of complicated." A familiar voice said behind them.

They both jumped and turned, a sense of dread filling Matthew when he realized who it was. "Maddy?" Brittany said hesitantly as if she were unsure if the woman standing in front of her was her best friend.

"Hey." The blonde replied simply. "I came over to make sure no one said anything too awful, but it seems I'm a little too late for that."

"How did you get in here?" Matthew asked.

She held up a silver key. "You never changed the locks."

"You look ancient," Brittany stated, still staring.

Maddy scowled. "I wasn't aware aging twenty years wasn't allowed." She wasn't going to freak out over the fact that her best friend was suddenly back again. She'd taken her medication before coming over so Brittany wasn't a hallucination like she had been the last time.

"You don't look _that_ old. Maybe late twenties." Matthew piped up, his habit of randomly showering her with compliments still prominent.

His ex, however, didn't blush and try to hide her face like she used to. _She rolled her eyes._ "That's not going to get you anywhere. Now, if you'll _excuse_ me-" She pushed past him and went over to Lovino, wrapping the italian in a tight hug. "Lovi..."

Tears had finally started to slip out of his eyes. "I didn't know he thought- he never said-"

"Shh. It's okay. He's just upset."

"But he said-"

"I know what he said. He'll get over it and apologize."

Matthew felt intense anger and jealousy rear up as he watched them and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. _Calm down. They're just friends and she's doing what any friend would do. You're over this anyway._ The truth was, he wasn't over his jealousy at all. The anxious, insecure feelings always came back whenever he witnessed them interacting and he had yet to find a healthy way to deal with them.

Brittany had made her way into the kitchen, standing behind Alfred. He had yet to notice her, so she poked his arm. He turned and smiled at her. "Good morning."

"Morning." She spied the half full coffee pot and went looking for a mug. "How does Matthew find anything in here?" She planted her hands on her hips, looking around for a cupboard she hadn't already looked in. Alfred was smirking at her and moved as she went to the cupboard behind him. Opening it and grabbing a mug, she poured herself some coffee, sipping at it. "So Lovino has children."

Alfred sighed. He'd known she'd ask about it eventually. "Yeah. So does Matthew."

Brittany smiled slightly at that. "With who?"

The nation scratched at the back of his neck nervously, avoiding her gaze. "Um…"

"Me."

They both jumped. "Maddy, stop doing that!" Brittany snapped, one hand on her chest. Coffee sloshed out of her mug. "My heart works. I don't need you to constantly test it!"

The blonde smiled and patted the brunette on the shoulder. "Sorry."

Alfred watched her carefully. "You're not freaking out."

"Why would I be? I took my medication before I came over and none of you have ever seen my visions so the fact that you all see her too tells me I'm not hallucinating her again."

" _Again?"_ Brittany asked.

Maddy nodded. "Yeah. You weren't quite yourself though." She leaned against the counter, her arms crossed. "And to answer your question again, Brittany, both Matthew and Lovino have children with me."

Brittany stared at her in shock. "And how did _that_ happen? You and Lovino don't like each other."

"Nah, we're friends now. Much to Matthew's dismay and jealousy."

"I am not jealous!" Matthew yelled from the other room.

"Could've fooled me," Maddy yelled back, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to her friend. "Arthur, Lukas, and Vlad did a spell. They were trying to bring you back, but it got me pregnant instead."

"They were trying to bring Brittany back?" Alfred interrupted, his eyes wide with curiosity. "How do you know that?"

"Arthur told me when-" She stopped for a minute, her hands shaking. She closed her eyes, regained her composure and cleared her throat. "Back in November."

"When were you planning to tell the rest of us about this?"

"I wasn't."

"Of course you weren't," Matthew said coldly, coming into the kitchen. "You don't tell anyone anything if you don't think it's important."

Maddy scowled, her eyes narrowing dangerously at him. "Have you told them how you were convinced I cheated on you with Lovino yet?"

"You what?" Brittany yelled, setting her coffee down as it spilled onto her hand again. "Why would she cheat on you?"

"And with Lovino of all people?" Maddy finished, quickly turning to the doorway. "No offense, Lovi!"

"None taken!" the italian yelled back. There was a pause, rushed footsteps and then Lovino poked his head into the kitchen. "He thought you _cheated_ on him? With _me?"_ That was probably the most ludicrous thing Lovino had ever heard.

She nodded and turned back to Matthew. "See? Even he thinks it's ridiculous."

"Wait, why didn't you ever _say_ anything, Ragazza?"

Maddy sighed, her argument immediately lost as she remembered she hadn't told Lovino about this. "Um... I didn't want you to-"

"Maybe because it's none of your business?" Matthew interrupted, his eye narrowing at Lovino.

The italian glared right back at him. "You really are just as arrogant as your brother, Williams."

"Shove off, Vargas."

Maddy watched the two of them with amusement as their argument escalated. She didn't particularly _want_ them to fight, so to speak, but she enjoyed watching drama go down. Lovino, for some reason, had become extremely protective of her, she noticed. It was a bit annoying at times, but a small part of her appreciated it. She usually just blamed his protective tendencies on the fact that she was the mother of his children. Speaking of... She snuck out of the kitchen and made her way outside, finding Severus leaning against the balcony railing. "I hope that smoke coming out of your ears is an indication that you're thinking of ways to apologize to your father."

He jumped and turned to her, only his expression didn't take on the happiness it usually did when he saw her. "Why should I? We both know he's always loved Bell more than me."

"No, he doesn't." Maddy crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at her son. "And even if he did, that wouldn't justify you telling him he's not the ' _important'_ half of his country."

"But mom, he spoils her rotten!"

"I know he does!" It was a topic she and Lovino had gotten into many arguments about. Neither of them had had everything handed to them on a silver platter, so why should their children? Lovino, however, had never quite been able to admit that he spoiled his daughter.

"I don't want to apologize," Severus muttered, turning away from her.

"You have to." She replied, stepping closer to him. "If you're not going to do it today, at least do it soon. Your father does love you. He's just afraid of losing you."

"No, he's not!" The brunette boy yelled, making his mother jump. "He's just upset because his _baby girl_ is missing and now he's stuck with just me!"

"Severus Xavier Vargas!"

The boy stopped, his eyes widening. He stepped away from his mother. He'd seen and heard her get angry enough to yell at her children, but he'd never been the one to evoke that wrath. It had always been his younger siblings and he'd always been the one who comforted them afterward. Now, he was cornered by his pissed off mother and she'd just used his full name. That was a bad sign. She took a deep breath and quietly counted to ten before looking at him again. Her gaze, however, just made him feel sick. Her expression was mostly cross, but under the anger was... disappointment. His heart ached and his stomach dropped. He was fairly certain he'd never disappointed his mother until now. Sure, she'd sent his siblings that crestfallen look, but he had managed to keep that look aimed away from himself.

"You need to apologize to your father," she said finally, her voice sounding hollow and defeated. "Maybe not today, but soon." She turned away from him and went back in the house.

 **Before anyone says anything in the reviews, I'm aware that's not 2016 anymore. The story** ** _Hetalia: Tale Of Two Girls_** **that these characters are from, however, ended in 2016 so I decided that would be the year Brittany thinks it is when she gets back.**

 **pinkittwice54: Yes, well, when I said soon, I meant** ** _extremely_** **soon. Yes, Arthur has bad timing, but that's been a recurring thing throughout this story, I think. Yes, you probably should've been prepared, but I'm not sure anyone is prepared for what happens next. Yes, the basement is where the girls are going to be kept, that will come up later. Oliver does not have some weird shrine to Maddy. That would be creepy.**


	21. Chapter 21

By the time Maddy got back inside, Alfred was holding Matthew back from punching Lovino, who just shouted right back at the blond. Brittany was watching them, looking like she was trying to decide if she should intervene. Maddy sighed and walked over, gently grabbing Lovino's arm. "Enough."

He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. "What?"

"I said enough." She repeated, her voice commanding attention even though it wasn't very loud. Everyone in the room knew that she was irritated, just by her tone. They also knew not to mess with her when she was pissed. "Go talk to Severus." She said once Lovino had calmed down and was facing her.

"But Ragazza-"

"No buts!" She was done letting the two of them 'work out' their problems on their own. Clearly, she needed to intervene. "Go on. The two of you have a lot to talk about."

Lovino sighed and walked away grumbling. "Ficcanaso."

"I heard that."

The irritated growling started up again but was muffled as he left the house. Maddy shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Since when do you know italian?" Matthew asked, snapping her out of her momentary happiness.

Her eyes darkened and she glowered at him. "Since Lovino decided to handle my pregnancy better than you."

His eyes widened and then he crosses his arms. "Is that why you went to live with him?"

"You lived with Lovino?" Brittany piped up, her eyes wide.

Maddy smiled slightly at her best friend. "Yes, I did. It was only for a couple months though. It was right after Matthew kicked me out."

"I didn't _kick_ you out!"

"You may as well have." She looked around, an icy pang of horror going through her as something occurred to her. "Where's Chris?"

"With Francis. Where he _always_ is."

"Who's Chris?" Brittany asked. "How many kids do you have?"

"Si-" Maddy stopped, clamming up for a minute before taking a deep breath. "Five. Three girls and two boys. Sev is the oldest, then the twins, then Bell and Chris is the youngest."

"And... the girls are the ones who are missing?"

There was a collective, but somber nod. "What are the girl's names?"

Maddy felt her face heat up and she looked at her feet. "The twins are Brittany and Selene. Abelia is the youngest out of the three of them."

"You named one of your daughters after me?" Brittany wasn't sure if she should feel honored that her best friend had named one of her children after her or be a bit more concerned about the mental state her friend was in.

"Yes, I did. I thought you were dead."

"What's she like?"

"Her uncle." Maddy smiled again. "He's a terrible influence."

"Hey!" Alfred snapped. "I am not a terrible influence! Is it wrong for a girl to be close to her uncle?"

"Do you have any idea how many fights she starts at school?" Matthew asked his brother, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Selene just threatens to fight people, Brittany actually does it."

"Besides, Al," Maddy broke in. "You gave her an eagle for a pet. Birds of prey don't make good pets."

"They like each other."

"That's not the point! It's an _eagle!"_

Alfred scoffed. "You're just jealous because you don't have one."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I am not jealous of the fact that my daughter has an eagle. I'm just happy you didn't try to give Chris a wolverine or badger or something. And if you want to see jealousy, you should look at _him."_ She gestured to Matthew.

"I told you, I'm not jealous anymore!"

"Oh, grow up! You're just as jealous as you've always been. You may like to think you're over it, but it's painfully obvious that you're not. And of course, you never _told_ anyone you thought I cheated on you because you wanted everyone to think it was my fault we broke up and that you're the victim here!"

"Would you rather they think _you're_ the victim?" Matthew snapped.

"Selene?" Maddy just barely managed to hear Brittany mutter questioningly. She smiled again. "Before you ask, Brittany, she was named that because of TLC."

"Does she _know_ she's named after a fictional lunar princess?"

"Yes, she does. I gave her the series for her birthday."

"I still can't believe you actually named our daughter after a fictional character," Matthew muttered, glaring at her.

"You could've argued, but you didn't. If you didn't want her to be named after a fictional lunar princess, you should've said something. Besides, Sev liked it and-"

Matthew scoffed. "That child has you so wrapped around his finger, he could commit murder and you'd let him get away with it."

"I am not wrapped around his finger! And even he _did_ commit murder, I certainly wouldn't let him get away with it. I may threaten to murder people, but I've never actually done it because I'm _aware_ that it's against the law. Just because he's a mama's boy doesn't mean I treat him any differently than the other children."

"Maybe if you were actually in the kids lives, they wouldn't try so hard to get your attention! Why do you think Brittany is constantly getting in fights? Why do you think Chris goes to Francis for affection? We're both so messed up that he can't even count on us to show that we love him!"

"Maybe if you weren't such an arrogant prick, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

At some point, the two had left their respective spots leaning on the wall and were now face to face, looking like the first one to breath wrong was going to get their throat ripped out. "Can I say something?" Brittany asked meekly, stepping towards them.

Matthew turned to her with a glare that sent chills up her spine. "Stay out of this." He snapped. Maddy's protective nature reared up again and she slapped him, stepping defensively in front of her best friend. "Don't you _dare_ snap at her! She hasn't done anything!" The sound of the slap echoed throughout the house. Matthew was too shocked to say or do anything for a minute. When it finally sank in that she'd slapped him, his jaw clenched and his eyes burned with anger. Thus, their screaming match began.

Alfred grabbed Brittany and began dragging her away. "I think that's our cue to leave."

"But-"

Alfred cut her off by shoving her through the front door and shutting it behind him as something that sounded like glass shattering reached his ears. "There's twenty years of anger and regret between them. I think it'd be best if we let them take it out on each other in peace."

" _In peace?"_ Brittany repeated, raising an eyebrow at him.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, that was a bad choice of words. Undisturbed, how about?" Just then, Arthur strolled up the driveway, looking blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding inside. "Where have you been?"

The englishman held up a paper to go cup. "I went to get tea." He didn't seem impressed with the tea, but Alfred decided not to acknowledge that part.

"Of course you did." Severus mumbled, making both Alfred and Brittany jump. The brunette boy surveyed the woman he'd been told his entire life was his aunt. He didn't look impressed. "I hope you're happy." He said finally, after looking her up and down.

"Excuse me?" Brittany asked. She had a vague understanding that this was Maddy and Lovino's eldest child and that he was usually a pretty calm, kind person. However, right now, he looked neither calm nor kind.

The boy scowled at her. "All of mom's problems are your fault." His voice was cold and accusing, a rare tone for him. Though, he seemed to be off today.

"Severus!" Lovino snapped, grabbing his son's shoulder and forcing him back. "That's no way to speak to your aunt!"

"She's not even technically my aunt! And besides, she's nothing like what I was expecting. Mom made her sound like this amazing person and she just looks average if you ask me."

"Well, no one _asked_ you, did they?" Alfred growled, standing protectively in front of Brittany. "I just remembered why I don't like you."

Arthur and Brittany pulled Alfred away from the two italians before he deck one or both of them while Lovino dragged his son around to the back of the house. No one spoke, they all just sat in silence.

* * *

Maddy rested her chin on her palm, watching Matthew silently. He was in the middle of yelling at her again, something he seemed to have developed a liking for in the past few years. She wondered if he would be worried about how red his face was getting. She assumed he didn't notice, considering a person couldn't see their own face without a mirror or something similar. She supposed she should yell back at him or make him shut up so his skin would go back to its normal color, but honestly, she couldn't care less. Let him run out of breath. It would give her more time to chew him out. After a few more minutes, though, her patience began wearing thin. She heaved a dramatic sigh and examined her nails for a few seconds before glancing back up at him. He was still going on and she honestly wasn't even sure what he was yelling at her anymore. He paused to take a breath and she raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you done?"

That made Matthew freeze and gape at her. He blinked rapidly, his mind spinning. How could she be so cold hearted and indifferent to him? She'd slapped him five minutes ago for snapping at her best friend and now she was looking at him like he was just some guy. "How do you-"

"It's called not letting my emotions get the better of me." She replied cooly, her eyes narrowed at him. "It keeps me from making myself look like a fool."

"Oh trust me, even the whole 'not showing your emotions' thing doesn't stop you from looking like a fool."

Her eyes widened just a fraction. She hadn't been expecting him to make a snappy comeback. It appeared that she'd rubbed off on him. She picked at one of her cuticles, trying to decide if she should be offended. She could always _act_ offended and see how he reacted, but he might think she was being serious and that would just be annoying to deal with. _Screw it._ She placed a hand on her chest dramatically and looked at him with wide and (hopefully) hurt eyes. "H-how could you-" She stopped, pretending to be too emotional to finish.

His eyes widened until they looked like dinner plates. "I didn't- I mean.. I only meant-"

She couldn't take it anymore. Her hurt facade crumbled and she burst out laughing, this time actually unable to look at him. Her sides were starting to hurt, but every time she looked at him, the laughter just intensified again. "Oh my god! You- you thought I was serious!" This confirmation just made her laugh even harder and she doubled over, her laughter eventually dying down to giggles and then stopping completely. She sat back up. "Continue."

It took Matthew a minute to come up with some sort of response. "You're horrible."

Maddy raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that the best you've got? This is why I argue with Lovino. He actually responses to my sarcasm with his own instead of getting offended." Though she said the second part mostly to herself, bringing up Lovino probably wasn't her best idea. It was true that he actually sassed her back though. She assumed that was why they got along.

"Ah yes, Lovino. Amazing, perfect Lovino." Matthew growled. "How could anyone compare to him?"

"I never said he was amazing." Maddy hissed, her voice as sharp as glass and cold as ice. "He's certainly not perfect. In fact, there are a lot of things we've gotten into fights about." She rolled her eyes, wondering how so much jealousy could be contained in someone who had always seemed so sweet and kind. _I suppose it's always during times of distress that people show their true colors._ She pulled herself out of her train of thought, realizing that Matthew had said something and was waiting for her to reply. "I'm sorry, what? I was thinking."

"Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, you're not the only one who had your life turned on its head and changed forever?" Matthew asked finally, his original question being forgotten.

Maddy shrugged. "I know pretty much everyone had their life changed because of this whole…" She trailed off, searching for the right word. "-ordeal. That doesn't really mean anything though."

* * *

Alfred was leaning against the porch railing, his arms crossed casually across his chest. Brittany was chattering on about something, he wasn't exactly sure what. He tried to pay attention, but he kept finding himself tuning out her words and just watching her. It seemed she hadn't aged at all while she'd been gone and she certainly hadn't changed. He smiled as he watched her, his mind slipping to a place he didn't normally let it go. _Memory lane._

The front door was suddenly flung open, jolting him out of his train of thought. The wooden door banged against the side of the house, the hinges creaking in protest. Maddy stormed out, muttering profanities under her breath.

"Maddy!" Brittany scolded. "Swear jar!"

The blonde stopped, gawking at her best friend. Finally, she smiled slightly, though it was sad and forced. "Now's not really the time, Brittany." She turned and walked down the driveway, shoving her hands in her pockets. Lovino hurried after her, talking quickly. They eventually got far enough away that no one could hear what either of them were saying, but judging by the shaking heads and the hand gestures being made, they were arguing about something. Finally, Maddy rolled her eyes, said one last thing and got into her car, driving away.

It wasn't until he turned around that Alfred realized his brother was standing behind him. "What happened? What did the two of you say?"

Matthew shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He muttered before going back inside.

Alfred sighed. He'd never wanted to pick sides in this ongoing argument, but he couldn't help feeling that maybe he should have. Both his brother and Maddy had valid reasons for being so upset, but neither were dealing with it in a healthy way. Alfred rubbed the neck of his neck, wondering if he could fix any of this, like he'd promised his niece he would.

* * *

Maddy's hands were clenched so tight around her steering wheel that her knuckles had turned white. Technically speaking, this wasn't a safe way to drive, but at the moment, she didn't care. The light turned red and she slowed to a stop, sighing. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Why was everything so complicated?

She almost wished things could go back to the way they'd been before. But that would mean not having her children and those maternal instincts she thought she'd never develop when she was a teenager refused to imagine a world without her children.

The light changed again and she pulled forward, her mind still wandering. She supposed she should be paying attention and making sure she was going the right way, but there was no need.

She knew exactly where she was going.

 **Pinkittwice54: 1) With Francis, where he always is. 2) tea 3) it'll take the children a little while to get used to being around their "aunt"**


	22. Chapter 22

"Selene, have you ever wanted mom and dad to get back together?"

Selene took her gaze off the ceiling and focused on her twin. "Of course I have." She mumbled, adjusting her arm so that it was around her younger sister's shoulders and tried rolling her own shoulder to get the kink out of it. Bell was asleep, which was the only way one could tell she was exhausted. Normally, if she wasn't familiar with or comfortable in a house, she wouldn't sleep there.

Brittany sighed and leaned against the wall, mimicking her twin. The cold from the concrete was seeping into her shoulders and sending chills up her spine. "How long have we been here?" She rested her head on Selene's shoulder.

"A few days, I think." The albino adjusted her position again so that her sister was comfortable. "I don't really know." She yawned and her eyelids slid closed. It could have been seconds or hours later, but she forced her eyes open. She wasn't about to let her guard down. Not when these psychopaths were the ones who currently in control of whether she lived or not. One look at her passed out twin and she decided that she'd been asleep for more than a few minutes. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't fall asleep now. They couldn't _all_ be off guard at once. She focused her gaze on the door leading out of the basement and tried moving her leg without disturbing her younger sister. _Damn it Bell, now I can't feel my leg._ The door slammed open and all three girls jumped, now fully awake.

James made his way down the stairs, eyeing the girls. Selene's grip on her younger sister tightened and she glared at him. "You're a horrible person." She spat finally, earning an elbow to the ribs from her twin.

He chuckled. "Have you ever been told that you're just like your mother?"

"Only a million times." She hissed, her eyes narrowing at him. "What's it to you?"

He shrugged. "I don't care. I'd be a little disappointed if the three of you weren't like your mother. Although," he looked at Bell. "With who your father is, you were going to be a sassy little thing no matter what."

"What does us being like our parents have to do with anything?" Brittany snapped, her patience had vanished shortly after they'd been locked in this basement days ago.

"Your mother." James corrected her. "I said you were like your mother. The two of you are nothing like your father, the wimp that he is."

"Don't you _dare_ talk about my father that way, you insolent-"

"Brittany!" Selene snapped, covering her sister's mouth. "I don't think now is the time for insults."

"Leave her be. Clearly, there's some pent up anger she needs to let out."

"Don't encourage her," Selene growled.

"They're impossible," James muttered, crossing his arms.

"I don't know," Allen said, coming up behind his brother. "I rather like them. They're all quite feisty."

"That much was obvious."

"When did _that_ happen?"

Selene's horrified shriek drew James' attention away from his brother and back to the girls. Abelia was staring at an incision on her forearm, one that was currently oozing blood onto the floor. She seemed completely calm and didn't seem to mind the fact that the liquid was rapidly leaking out of her. "I'm… not exactly sure." She replied finally, her voice devoid of emotion.

"How the _hell_ did you manage to do that? And not _notice_ it?" James yelled, his mind starting to race. "Jesus christ, if your mother finds you like this-" He sprinted upstairs and rapidly gathered half the medicine cabinet before going back downstairs. "She's going to kill me if any of you get hurt." He grabbed Abelia's arm and cleaned it out, watching her.

Brittany scoffed and crossed her arms. "Mom's going to kick your ass anyway."

He glared at her as he wrapped bandages around Bell's arm. "Be that as it may, your mother is not someone-"

"Not someone you want to mess with," Selene interrupted. "But you made the idiotic mistake of doing just that." She clapped mockingly. "Good job."

James blinked at her, trying to come up with some sort of response. "Aren't you supposed to be the quiet, internally sassy one?" He asked finally.

She shrugged. "Usually, but this is fun. Let's go again."

She was mocking him again. As the realization hit him, he got up and walked away. "Come on Al."

"Aw, but I wanted to-"

"No. Let's go."

Allen followed his brother upstairs, grumbling under his breath the entire way. He locked the door and flopped dramatically onto the couch once he'd gotten that far. "This whole thing is much more boring than I thought it would be."

"What, did you think we'd take them out to get ice cream or something?" James snapped, his eyes narrowing at his brother. He supposed it wasn't really his brother that he was irritated with, but he was closest so the anger was going to be taken out on him.

"Where the hell did you get that idea? Why would- you know what? Nevermind. I actually don't want to know." Allen muttered, making his way up the stairs to his room. James rolled his eyes and settled onto the couch, flicking through the TV channels and finding nothing. A shriek from upstairs made him jump and drop the remote. "Get your damn bear out of my room!" Allen yelled.

James snickered and got up. "Just a minute, Al. I'm on my way."

"No, Kumajiro, don't eat that!"

James went upstairs, trying to hold back his laughter when he saw that his brother was crouched against the wall, holding a bat out at Kumajiro. "Kumajiro, come on." The bear stopped growling at Allen and ambled over to his owner, throwing another growl over his shoulder. Allen retaliated by sticking his tongue out at the bear as it sat down, eyeing him.

"You should keep better track of your pets."

"You should stop leaving your bedroom door open."

As if on cue, there was the sound of a door downstairs slamming. Both nations blinked and scrambled down the stairs, only to find their front door open.

* * *

"You kicked the door down?" Brittany repeated, staring at her mother.

Maddy rolled her eyes. "Yes, we've established this. Let's go!" She looked around, unimpressed with her surroundings. "I was expecting them to _at least_ have some sort of cell built in. Maybe chains or ropes if that was too hard to work out."

"Mom, that was… impressive." Bell said quietly, holding her injured arm close to her torso.

"I just kicked the door down. It's not _that_ hard. You should see what I could do if I got ahold of someone's pressure points." To be honest, Maddy was only partially paying attention to her daughters. She knew kicking the door in hadn't been her best idea (it certainly hadn't been a very stealthy one) and somehow, she doubted no one was home. "We should go before they realize I"m here."

"Too late for that, beauty."

Maddy groaned and turned to James, glaring at him. "So it would seem. Hey, you know what? You're going to step aside and let my daughters and I walk out of here."

"Am I?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Is that what you think?"

She shook her head. "It's what I know."

"Um, mom? Maybe a murderous psychopath isn't the best person to sass?" Selene mumbled while James sent her a shocked look. "Murderous psychopath?"

"Hypocrite!" Bell hissed at her elder sister. "You were sassing him while he was bandaging my arm!"

"Why is your arm injured again?" Maddy asked, turning to her brunette daughter. "Who do I need to murder?"

When they were younger, that question would've made the three girls laugh, but they knew better now that they were older. Their mother was extremely protective and when that question was uttered, she was completely serious.

"No one needs to die, mom." Bell gestured to the small window to her left. "I broke the glass trying to get out and cut myself. They fixed the window before we could leave." She fiddled with the bandages, a habit she'd inherited from her mother. "They just didn't notice my arm until earlier."

"You said you didn't know how you got hurt!" James said in exasperation. His panicking was interrupted by footsteps on the stairs.

Oliver made his way down the stairs and smiled. "Poppet! You're here! I was wondering when you'd get here. Though, if I'm being honest, I expected you to show up mere hours after the girls got here and whisk them off back home."

Maddy smiled at him. "I would have, but there was a screaming match to be fought first."

The girls meanwhile, were gaping at their mother as she struck up a conversation with Oliver, someone they'd be told was crazy and killed people by poisoning his cupcakes. They'd yet to mention this description to him, fearing they'd offend him or he'd prove them right. Suddenly, the pink haired man smiled and held cupcakes out to them. "I'm assuming the three of you are hungry. James has never been very good at taking care of others."

"Hey!"

The girls sent both the pastries and the man offering them skeptical looks. "Are they poisoned?"

He frowned. "One batch. I swear to-"

Maddy sighed and patted Oliver's shoulder before looking to her daughters. "He wouldn't poison the three of you."

"You don't know that," Brittany muttered, stubbornly refusing to look at her mother.

"I do know that actually."

Still hesitant, they each grabbed a cupcake and took small bites. Oliver watched them carefully while Maddy tried to ignore the looks she was getting from both James and Allen. "These are really good," Abelia mumbled finally, taking another bite.

Oliver smiled and Maddy smirked at her daughters. "I told you so." Her eyes widened and she turned to the stairs. "Back to escaping though-"

"Of course!" Oliver almost tripped trying to turn so he could look at her. "Distracting you was not my intention. You all should get going!"

"Oh hell no!" James snapped, crossing his arms.

"Language!"

James rolled his eyes. "I did not go through all the trouble of acting nice to get close and kidnapping them just for you to walk out!"

"I was expecting Negan over here to protest us leaving," Maddy muttered, gesturing to Allen.

His eyes narrowed at her. "Stop calling me that."

"You are kind of like him," James replied, sending his brother a look that screamed for him to shut up before he embarrassed himself.

Allen, however, missed the hint. "Why? Because I carry a bat around?"

"And because you're an arrogant dick," Maddy interjected. "The only difference is that you haven't named your bat." She paused, before adding hesitantly, "As far as I know anyway."

Allen glared at her, shaking with sudden and barely controlled anger. "You have two seconds."

"To what?" Maddy growled, her sass and stubbornness shining through undeterred. "Act like you're so terrifying and run like a coward? I think not."

He took a deep breath and shoved past both Oliver and James. "Always being sarcastic isn't a good thing." He swung his bat at her and not expecting the attack, she took the hit at her ribs.

She grit her teeth and despite how much breathing suddenly hurt, she hissed out, "I'm not _always_ sarcastic, sometimes I'm sleeping."

Allen stepped closer and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Maddy slammed a fist against his sternum, knocking him to the ground. "W-what the... hell.."

"You were too close." She replied simply, grabbing her children and moving around him. "Maybe next time, you'll be more considerate of another's personal space. Let's go girls." Oliver held James back as they walked out and got in the truck. Maddy started the car and drove off, the pain in her side fading to a dull ache.

"Mom, are you-"

"I'm fine. They didn't hurt you, did they?" She couldn't care less about her own injury. Her priority was her children. Wasn't that how parents were supposed to be?

"Other than Bell's arm, we're fine," Selene mumbled, staring at her lap. She knew how stubborn her mother was and could tell none of them were going to convince her to admit Allen's bat had done damage. She also knew that she and her sisters weren't any better and that they'd gotten it from their mother. That much was obvious.

"Mom, you and dad got in another fight?" Brittany asked hesitantly.

"It was nothing you need to worry about sweetheart."

The rest of the drive was silent until they arrived at Matthew's. Brittany and Selene scrambled out of the car, practically sprinting up to the front door. Maddy helped her brunette daughter out of the car despite her claims that she didn't need it. As soon as she was out, she hurried after her older sisters and the front door closed behind them once they were inside. Maddy stumbled and pressed a hand against her side, only for the pain to come back full force. She pulled her arm away, only to find that her hand was soaked in blood. "Damn it." Pulling some bandages out of the glove compartment, she did a hasty wrap and covered it with her shirt before following her daughters inside.

The sight she was met with once she got to the living room made her heart swell. Lovino had wrapped Bell in a tight hug and was trying in vain to convince his son to join the hug. Sev, as much as he wanted to join in, was still a little irritated and didn't want to show his true emotions. _Just like his father._ Maddy thought ruefully and made her way over to her eldest child, quickly wrapping her arms around him. It took a few seconds, but soon he returned the hug.

Alfred was clinging to his niece like he was afraid she'd disappear if he let go. Matthew was talking quietly with Selene and Chris was clinging to his older sister's arm. Francis had latched himself onto _his_ niece like she was the only thing in the world. _He looks like he's about to cry._

"You're hurt."

The voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she narrowed her eyes at Matthew. "I am not."

He rolled his eyes. Despite what she seemed to think, she wasn't indestructible. "Really? You could've fooled me. You're pale."

"I'm _always_ pale."

"In a sickly way." He snapped. "You're shaking, your eyes are glassy and you've had your hand pressed against your side since you got here. You look like death."

"Thanks." She grumbled, forcing herself to stand up straight and walk away from him. Only the walls and floor seemed to have a different idea. The world spun and she leaned heavily against the wall, her vision going black around the edges. She felt herself falling and then felt someone wrap their arms around her and everything went black.

 **pinkittwice54: It's okay, he got smacked for it. Alfred missed you too. Arthur will be more involved later. Sev was mostly just worried about his baby sisters.**


	23. Chapter 23

James was pacing. Again. Oliver sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Pacing isn't going to help win the argument."

"I can't believe you just let walk out!" James snapped, halting his pacing only to resume it a few moments later. "All that time and effort-"

"The time and effort it took you and your brother to kidnap and imprison three teenage girls?" Oliver clarified, his voice cold. "Yes, I'm _so_ sorry that all ended up being for nothing. I'll make sure to let you keep them locked up longer next time."

"James! Your stupid bear is in my room again! Come get him out!" Allen yelled from the second story of the house.

"Why don't you stop being such a baby and get him out yourself!" James yelled back, his nails digging into his crossed arms. "Absolute pansy." He muttered, ignoring whatever else his brother might yell at him. "Why did you let them walk out anyway?"

Oliver rolled his eyes again. He'd been asked that question so many times in the last two weeks that he'd lost count. He shook his head. He wasn't going to try and explain his reasoning behind letting the girls leave again. As far as James seemed to be concerned, Oliver had committed some crime while the englishman couldn't disagree more if he tried. "Because James. It was the right thing to do. Kidnapping people is wrong and I still don't understand where you thought it would get you with the poppet."

"I had a plan." James hissed, trying and failing to keep his temper in check. "And it did _not_ include letting them leave without a fight."

"Well, that's too bad. It's already been done. You'll just have to get over it and find something else to do with your time." Oliver's tone left no room for argument and eventually, James scowled, knowing he'd lost. He mumbled something under his breath and went upstairs.

* * *

"Mom, I want a shark."

Maddy sent her son a look that screamed 'why the hell is that?' "You... have a ferret." She said slowly. She didn't want to say no immediately, but when the idea of having was first brought up, he'd said that a ferret was fine.

Chris sighed dramatically. "I know, but I want a shark. Brittany and Selene have abnormal pets."

"Only because your uncle doesn't listen to a word I say." She wasn't sure why Chris was talking to her about getting a pet shark. He lived with Matthew. That was the adult he should have been asking.

"Consider it done kiddo!" Alfred yelled from across the room as if mentioning him had enhanced his hearing. Chris beamed at his uncle.

Maddy sighed and considered yelling at Alfred but settled with shooting him a vexed look. "Have you talked to your father about this?"

"Talked to me about what?"

Maddy jumped at the voice, then winced. Her hand went to her side and her breath went hissing between her teeth. Matthew watched her worriedly, then forced himself to adopt a poker face when she sat up and looked at him. "Chris wants a pet shark and Alfred," She gestured with her free hand towards said uncle, "has already generously offered to obtain one for him."

Matthew took a deep breath. "Alright."

Alfred watched the pair from across the room, happy that they were talking without fighting for once, but ready to run over and separate them if the need arose. "So this is the imposter." He turned to look at Brittany again as her joking tone reached him. He cringed as his niece glared at her namesake.

" _Excuse me?"_ Her eyes narrowed and she decked the brunette.

"Brittany!" Maddy yelled.

"I didn't do anything!" The brunette of the two yelled back, rubbing her cheek. "That hurt."

"I wasn't yelling at you," Maddy muttered, coming over and dragging her daughter away. "That was an inappropriate reaction." She scolded non too gently.

"Did you hear what she said?"

"I was joking!" Brittany defended herself, staring bitterly after them.

Maddy suddenly shoved her squirming daughter towards Alfred. "You're the one who taught her how to fight, you deal with this."

Alfred clumsily caught his niece. "You're her mother!"

"She doesn't _listen_ to me. The only one she listens to anymore is you!"

Brittany watched as Alfred dragged his niece out of the room, presumably to reprimand her. "Is she always like that?"

"Usually she's worse," Chris replied, briefly examining his aunt's cheek. "I think you'll be okay. Dad's better at the medical stuff than I am. I'm sorry she punched you. She's always had a bad temper."

Brittany shook her head. "It's not your fault. Why is Bell sitting by herself?"

Chris followed his aunt's gaze to his older sister and shrugged. "She's pretty much the loner out of all of us. Sev has always been really protective of her and Selene. He and Brittany have never really gotten along, but according to mom, he and Selene hit it off really early."

"And what about you?"

The blond suddenly refused to look at her. "I don't care much for people. To be honest, they kind of scare me. That's why I follow Brittany around. She's so outgoing and makes friends so easily. I figure, if I spend enough time with her, maybe some of that will rub off on me." He sat up and changed the topic. "Grandpere has told me a lot about you. Did you really have to break a window to get his attention when the 2p's came after you?"

Despite the abrupt topic change and the admittedly dangerous topic, Brittany smiled at her nephew. "Yeah. I think I was outside yelling for him for a good five minutes before throwing a rock at the window."

In spite of his best efforts to keep a poker face throughout the explanation, Chris smiled and laughed slightly. "Alright. Why the turquoise color for your room?"

This caught Brittany off guard. "My room is still there?" She meant the question more as _he left the room alone?_

Chris nodded. "Mom and Dad wouldn't talk about you. I tried going to Uncle Alfred about it, but he didn't want to talk either. Finally, I decided to see if Grandpere would tell me about you and I got a lot more than I thought I would. Why the turquoise though?"

"I wanted a pink since it's my favorite color, but I thought that would be cliche. Thus, the turquoise was chosen instead."

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused both of them to turn around and Brittany came face to face with Severus. Well, not exactly face to face because she was sitting down and he was standing, more like her face to his abdomen. His gaze was locked on his feet. "I wanted to apologize for snapping at you. It was wrong and I shouldn't have taken my feelings out on you."

Brittany stayed silent for a few minutes. She was glad he'd apologized, but it had taken him two weeks to do so. Still, she supposed that apologizing showed a level of maturity that most people didn't have. She took a deep breath. "Thank you for apologizing." He nodded curtly, shuffling as he was uncertain what to do now.

"Has mom always had a thing for italian guys?"

Brittany burst out laughing and nodded. Once her giggling fits subsided, she looked back to her nephew, "Yes and it all started with an italian pastry chef named Damiano." None of them noticed Maddy hurrying over. "I don't remember exactly what show she first saw him in, but she fell for him almost immediately. I'm pretty sure it was because of his accent and the fact that he was foreign. He returned a few times after that, losing one show she'd started watching. The last time I heard about him was for a halloween themed show. Apparently, he was dressed up as a firefighter. She claims he was wearing a shirt, but-"

Maddy clamped a hand over Brittany's mouth, her face bright red. "That's enough out of you." But the damage had already been done. Both boys were trying and failing to hold in their laughter at the sight of their mortified mother.

Suddenly Sev stopped, his eyes gleaming wickedly. "Does dad know?"

If it were possible, his mother's face went even redder. "No…" The phrase came out sounding more like a question and the brunette boy took this as his cue to turn and sprint towards his father. "Sev no!"

Brittany watched her sister chase after her son and turned back to Chris. "Did you want to know anything else?"

"Could the two of you be a family for three seconds please?" Maddy yelled as she tried in vain to separate her eldest child from his father.

"Well, we could if you and dad would get together." Abelia piped up, grinning at her mother's scandalized look of wrath.

"Not the time!" Maddy snapped, still trying to pry the two italians apart. "Alright enough!" She yelled finally. They both jumped and backed away from each other, watching her warily.

"And I thought they were bad _before_ we got here," Brittany mumbled.

Chris nodded, wondering briefly if his aunt planned to step in at any time. "They can get pretty bad. Mom and Dad usually try to make sure they don't fight in front of us kids though."

She shook her head before muttering sarcastically, "Brilliant. A+ parenting." Suddenly, she sat up, a thought occurring to her. "Hey, Maddy, whatever happened to that ginger child you wanted?"

All arguments in the room stopped and it became silent, except for the ticking of a distant clock. "Ginger child?" Selene repeated. She'd been silently observing and absorbing all the information as everyone fought or talked.

Brittany nodded. "Maddy wanted a male ginger child when we were teens, but that wasn't going to happen based on her family's genetics so she was just going to adopt one."

Maddy walked over, grabbed her sister and dragged her out of the room.

"Stop. Maddy, let go!" Brittany whined, struggling against the blonde's grip. "I'll stop bringing up stupid things from when we were younger, just let go!"

The blonde released the brunette and shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

Brittany smiled as innocently as she could. "You know you love me!"

Maddy shook her head. "A fact you know too well."

* * *

Maddy took a deep breath and sighed. She was glad to be home, now if only she could get to sleep. Alfred had dragged his niece inside to make her apologize for punching Brittany and Matthew had decreed that she could leave the house shortly after that. While Maddy adored her children, she knew they were far from perfect and most likely had extremely bad views on relationships. She wasn't why, but this seemed to be her main cause for concern as of late.

It had been keeping her awake at night the most anyway.

She got up and silently padded down to her children's rooms, quietly checking on Bell and Sev. They'd stubbornly refused to stay at Matthew's so she'd suggested they just come with her. Lovino had been at his limit with Matthew so the italian had immediately jumped at the chance to get away from him.

Both children were sound asleep, Bell clinging onto a small blanket she'd dragged everywhere when she was a kid, but had pretty much refused to admit to having the past few years. Maddy smiled and shook her head. She closed the door and went to check on Lovino. Sound asleep, just like the kids. Being a father had certainly cut down the number of siestas he took and he didn't sleep _quite_ as heavily as he used to, but it was still enough. The blonde stepped into the room and grabbed the blanket the italian had kicked to the floor. She carefully covered him again and left. Making her way to the kitchen, she made herself a cup of tea and went out to the patio, breathing in the cool night air. The mug was warm in her hands and her fingertips were icy. She raised the mug to her lips and took a small sip of her tea, her gaze wandering towards the constellations. She'd always been more a night owl and her insomnia certainly didn't help. Finally, after about ten minutes of 'day'dreaming, she chugged her tea and went inside, setting the mug in the kitchen sink then going upstairs. She traded her pajamas for a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt and a hoodie, slipping her keys, phone and pocket knife into her pockets. She was back outside and halfway down the driveway before she realized she hadn't been as quiet as she'd originally thought. She stopped and sighed. "Severus, I know you're there."

It took a minute, but soon he shuffled up to her instead of trailing behind her. "How did you know it was me?"

"I'm your mother. I know everything." He pouted and she regarded him silently. "What are you doing awake?"

"I thought you knew everything."

She smiled, laughing softly. "Well, since you're awake and already out here, you might as well come with me." They both started walking and Maddy found her thoughts wandering to when Severus was a kid and taking walks were a daily habit of theirs. That had always been when she'd ask him how school had been or if he'd come up with any new stories. "Do you remember when you were nine and you lived with me for a year?"

" _Of course_ I do! You threatened to destroy that kid who bullied me the first day of school." Sev trailed off, thinking back to that day. "He called me a sissy because my hair was long and I'd brought cookies in that day. You thought bringing in cookies would help me make friends."

Maddy scratched the back of her neck nervously. She'd never meant for her son to get bullied for bringing in cookies. She'd honestly thought that it was a good idea, but after that first day, she'd never tried or even suggested it again. "What was his name?"

"Jacob. He teased me the rest of the year because of my accent too." Sev turned to his mother. "You went and talked to his mother, remember? And she claimed that he was a ' _perfect angel'_ and would never do such a thing and then you showed her the bruises he gave me."

His mother grinned wickedly. "Turned her around right away. Parents should never assume their children can do no wrong. Don't get me wrong, I love you and your siblings, but I've never been the type to think you wouldn't do naughty things or bully people, even if you don't mean to."

Severus stopped, staring at his mother. He tried to stifle a chuckle but failed miserably. " _Naughty_ things, Mom?"

Maddy stopped, her expression one of confusion until her eyes widened. "That is _not_ what I meant!" Her face flushed crimson. "Honestly, you are- _Bad_ things! Does that make you feel better, Mr. I-Have-A-Dirty-Mind?"

His barely muffled chuckles turned into full blown laughter and he eventually had to hold his sides as they hurt. "I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I couldn't resist."

She shook her head, but a small smile still graced her features. "Let's go home." They set off in the direction they'd come from, falling into a comfortable silence. Once they got to the house, however, Maddy stiffened and stepped protectively in front of her son.

"Mom?" He looked to the house and noticed a car there that didn't look familiar, but his mother's eyes were locked on it and he had a bad feeling that she recognized it. "Who is it?"

Suddenly, the driver's side door opened and a man who looked a lot like Matthew sauntered over. Severus immediately didn't like him.

"What are you doing here?" Maddy snarled, still standing in front of Sev.

James sent her a hurt look. "What, you don't like seeing me anymore?"

Her hand drifted towards her pocket. "Answer the question."

"I heard loverboy let you come home today, so I figured I'd swing by and check up on you. Most people wouldn't survive taking a hit from Allen's bat."

She glared at him. "That's because most people meet it in a dark alley after they've pissed him off."

James shrugged. "I can't change that, but I'm not here to talk about them. I'm here to talk about you."

"You shouldn't be here at all." She hissed, her hand now wrapped around the knife in her pocket. If she could just catch him off guard somehow…

"You can't fool me, beauty."

She swore softly and pushed Severus back. If he would just run! "What do you want, James?"

"Don't play dumb. The only reason you got to walk away last time was because of Oliver's weird obsession with you and your precious family. It'd be a shame if something were to… happen."

Her throat went dry. It was impossible to miss the underlying threat and she knew that if she didn't cooperate, people were going to get hurt. Severus gripped his mother's arm tightly once the realization hit him. "Mom, you can't go with him."

"I have to." She replied quietly, refusing to look at him.

"Why?"

Finally, she turned to him, looking at him with a strange, tired sadness. "You'll understand if you have kids of your own. You need to go inside."

The brunette boy could feel tears welling up. "Mom, please don't go." He wrapped her in a tight hug, suddenly overwhelmed with the horrible feeling that if he let her go now, he wasn't going to see her again.

Maddy bit her lip and gently wiped her son's tears off his face. "Take care of your siblings, okay?" She returned his hug, desperately trying to keep her hands from shaking. "I love you. No matter what happens, remember that." She let go and moved towards James, still trying to look strong. "If I go with you, you can't hurt any of my family."

He smirked. "No worries, beauty. I've never really been interested in them anyway." Some small part of her snapped and she punched him, her eyes stormy. He chuckled. "Alright, I deserved that. Let's go."

Severus stood on the patio, watching as his mother was herded into the car and driven away. He stumbled into the house and sat down heavily on the couch before he could fall down. He tried to rationalize his mother's decision, but somehow, he couldn't get the image of her disappearing out of his head. He felt both empty and extremely angry all at once. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he go wake his father? Should he try to chase down the car? It couldn't have gotten _that_ far away, could it have? It hadn't driven off that long ago. A scream bubbled up in his throat and he pressed his lips together to keep it in. He curled into a ball and dug his fingernails into his arms until dawn light started to filter through the curtains. Still, it was almost an hour and a half until his father or sister woke up.

Lovino came down the stairs first. His first clue that something was wrong was that there wasn't the smell of some sort of breakfast food or coffee drifting through the air. Maddy may have enjoyed sleep, but he knew that if she woke up early, coffee and food became her priority. He noticed his son sitting on the couch, his eyes locked on some spot on the wall only he could see. Lovino frowned and went over to him, gently patting his shoulder. "Where's your mother?"

Severus suddenly seemed to come out of a trance. He looked up at his father almost wearily, then his lower lip began to quiver. "Gone." Was the only word out of his mouth before the dam finally broke.

 **pinkittwice54: We're getting close to the end.**


	24. Chapter 24

Matthew snapped awake to what sounded like someone trying to break down his door. Having forced himself to become a morning person years earlier when his children could still be considered kids, he jumped (more like tumbled, but who cared about technicalities) out of bed and stumbled downstairs. He rubbed one eye and opened the front door, scowling when the visitor was revealed. "What do you want, Lovino?"

The italian was breathing heavily and had a crazed look in his eyes. He didn't even pause to comment on Matthew using his first name for once. "Where does your second player live?"

"What?"

"Where does your-"

"I heard you the first time," Matthew growled, his grip on the door handle tightening. "I just don't understand why you want to know."

"Just tell me where he lives!" Lovino snapped, his normal aggression rearing up again. "This is important!"

"Even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn't!" Matthew snapped back, his eyes narrowing. "He moves around every few years, so any address I'd give wouldn't be valid anymore."

Lovino's eyes went wide and he began sputtering as if his brain had chosen that moment to malfunction. Matthew simply sighed and waited, wondering how much longer this would take. If he was lucky, it would only be a few minutes and he'd be able to go back to sleep. That was, until Abelia piped up from behind her father, where she'd previously gone unnoticed, "Dad, I told you, I know where he lives."

Lovino sent his daughter a look that said _You're not bringing this up again._ "I already told you, I'm not letting you anywhere near him."

"But dad-"

"No!"

"Dad! If you want to help mom, you have to let me-"

"That's our last resort."

Matthew felt an icy fist close around his heart. Even after all these years of trying to pretend he didn't care, he could feel panic rising. "What exactly happened?" It took a lot of energy just to make those three words sound at least _halfway_ calm.

Lovino sighed, turning back to the canadian. "The ragazza, she-" He paused and took a deep breath. "She and Severus were on a walk and your stupid counterpart showed up." Matthew decided to ignore the accusatory look Lovino was shooting him. How was this his fault? The italian continued, "He threatened the kids and she-"

"Went with him." Matthew finished. He knew his ex well enough to know that if James had threatened the kids, she hadn't put up a fight. "Of course she did."

"Honestly, do you have any idea what time- Lovino!" Said italian looked past Matthew and waved at Brittany, who was rubbing the corner of her eye. She'd seemed happy enough to see him, but as he continued to watch her, her expression turned to one of confusion. "What are you doing here? Matthew, why are you just standing there?"

Both nations blinked and then Matthew stepped aside, letting Lovino and his children inside. _Damn it, I just managed to get rid of him._ They all shuffled awkwardly into the living room, Matthew silently gesturing for the italians to sit down. He noticed after a minute that Severus was staring at the floor. The boy had always been quiet, more like his mother than his father, but this was different. He almost seemed... _guilty?_

Brittany tuned out the conversation as Matthew and Lovino awkwardly tried to figure out what to do. Her focus was on Severus. She frowned, knowing he was thinking that this was his fault and that he was going to beat himself up for ages. She'd seen Maddy do it enough when they were in school and unfortunately, her eldest son had picked up quite a few of her habits. The brunette stood and went over to the boy, who was too lost in his own thoughts to notice her at first. She gently touched his shoulder and he jumped, finally realizing she was there. He looked down at his lap and picked at his cuticles. _Another of his mother's habits._ "Can I talk to you?" He nodded, still refusing to look at her. She frowned, grabbed his arm and led him out of the room, deciding that it would be better if they were away from prying eyes. Once they were safely hidden in the kitchen, she released her hold on his arm. "This isn't your fault."

He grit his teeth and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Yes, it is. I should've forced her to stay or fought the bastard. I shouldn't have let her go. If I wasn't such a damn coward, I could've…" He trailed off, tears welling up in his eyes.

Brittany watched him as the tears began to fall and after a minute of awkwardly trying to figure out what to do, she hugged him. He stiffened and then gingerly hugged her back. She released him and stepped back, looking him over again. He was taller than her, damn it. It was only by an inch or two, but it still bothered her. "You couldn't have done anything." He sent her a questioning yet angry look and she continued, "Your mother is extremely stubborn and protective of the people she cares about. Always has been. If _James,"_ She was still getting used to calling him that instead of 'michael.' "Threatened you, she went quietly."

"That's just it," Severus said miserably. "She didn't put up a fight. She made me go inside and told me to take care of everyone."

"That doesn't make it your fault."

"I should have done something!"

Brittany shook her head. "If you had tried to fight James, he would have hurt you, maybe even killed you. Would you want to put your mom through that?"

The boy sighed, knowing any arguments he might have had had just been made invalid. "No. I- I just don't want to lose her. And I feel like I didn't do enough to keep her safe."

Brittany felt herself smiling sadly. "She's your mother. Keeping you safe is her number one priority. You don't have to worry about that sort of thing with her." She shook her head slightly, realizing how like his mother Severus was. "You know, when you're not stressed and upset, you're actually really sweet."

He wasn't quite sure how to take that. He was pretty sure it was a compliment, but it had come out weirdly. "Mom used to joke that she and dad couldn't figure out how I turned out so quiet and kind when they were my parents."

Brittany shook her head again, this time out of amusement.

* * *

Lovino felt like tearing his hair out.

Matthew was absolutely no help whatsoever. The canadian kept saying that he wanted to do something, but he wasn't offering up any brilliant ideas or dispensing any helpful information. He thought that letting the girls show them how to get to James' house was a good idea, or as he put it "the only option we have." And while Lovino could see the logic behind that argument, there was no way he was letting his daughter anywhere near that psychopath again. What if something went wrong and she got hurt? He couldn't lose her again.

 _Having kids is a lot harder than I thought it would be. That stupid tomato bastard was right._

"Dad."

He jumped, then turned to his daughter wearily. "I already told you-"

"No, dad, I have a better idea." Bell interrupted her father, playing with her hair. "Matthew has a map. I can just show you how to get to James' house and you can go get mom yourself." She hesitated and looked at her feet before mumbling, "I promise I won't try to sneak into the car and come along."

Lovino sighed. "Alright. Bring me this map."

She led him back to the coffee table, a map laid out on top of it. Matthew looked like he was trying hard not to say something insulting. "I don't think this is a good plan."

"It's the only one we've got." Lovino snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Unless you've come up with a better one since we've walked in here."

Matthew looked away, knowing he'd lost the argument. "Not really. I just don't think this is a good idea. You don't have a plan for when you get there or for getting back. What if someone gets hurt?"

"Aw, are you worried about me, Williams?" Lovino asked sarcastically, fully aware that he wasn't the one Matthew was worried about. Not that the canadian would admit to being worried about Maddy either.

"You wish," Matthew replied shortly, turning his attention back to the map. "Are we both-"

"In your dreams." Lovino hissed, knowing what the blond was about to ask. "She's not going to want to see you."

Matthew grit his teeth, trying to remain civil and calm. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. She isn't going to want to see you because when she needed you the most, you kicked her to the curb and acted like she was the devil."

Brittany had made her way back into the living room, followed by Severus. They stopped when they realized the other two adults were arguing. Matthew took a deep breath, desperately holding onto the little bit of calm left in him. "Don't act like you know what actually happened, Vargas. You weren't there."

"You broke her heart!" Lovino exploded.

"You think I don't know that?" Matthew yelled right back, standing up. Had Lovino always been so much shorter than him? "I know what I did! I'm not stupid!"

"Distrusting and then breaking the heart of someone who loved you more than anything else suggests otherwise!" The italian fumed. "You-"

"Would you two stop arguing like children!?" Brittany yelled, glaring at both of them. Neither was sure when she'd returned or why she'd disappeared in the first place, but both knew not to mess with her when she snapped like this. "Blaming each other isn't going to help anyone!" She shook her head, eyeing them both angrily. "I'm disappointed with you both. I expected more from you, Matthew."

Both men looked thoroughly daunted and peered at her, hesitant to say anything in response. After a few minutes, they went back to planning out their rescue mission, occasionally shooting each other dirty looks, careful to not let Brittany see.

* * *

Maddy sighed, struggling once again. Just like her previous attempts, squirming accomplished nothing. Where was she? She vaguely remembered being dragged into the basement and left alone long enough for whatever drug had been in the air to take effect. The next time she woke up, she found herself in complete blackness. Not knowing for certain if she'd actually woken up, she'd hesitantly tried to touch her eyelid. Unfortunately, she had actually opened her eyes, despite the dark and had ended up poking herself in the eye. She knew she was in some sort of buoyant liquid that supported her no matter how much she kicked and struggled. She could breathe so she knew if she died it wasn't going to be from lack of oxygen. She wasn't hungry or thirsty, so she wouldn't be able to use that as an excuse to get out. Nothing hurt, nothing felt good. She didn't feel anything period. Was she in some sort of isolation tank? That seemed like the only explanation.

But that just confused her more. Why would James put her in an isolation tank? What was he planning?

She'd found that she often had trouble figuring out what he was thinking and that bothered her more than anything. Even the fact that -just like Matthew- he was so much taller than her didn't affect her anymore. No, what irked her the most about him was that she couldn't read him.

The lid of the tank being ripped off cut her thoughts short and retina-searing light poured in. After being in pitch darkness with no sense of anything, the light burned. She felt hands grab her and haul her out of the tank, just adding to the intense pain. Small whimpers passed through her lips and she curled into a ball, trying to block out as much of the light as possible. Somehow she was laying on the floor, but she didn't remember being put there or laying down herself. After a few minutes of heavy silence, she cracked one eye open. The light was too bright, but it no longer seemed to be burning her eyes out. A blurred image of James swam in her messy vision and suddenly, she _wanted_ to be back in the tank, back in the darkness and silence and nothing.

"How are you feeling?" He asked simply.

She laughed, but it sounded like a cat choking. "Peachy." She rasped sarcastically, her voice coming out hoarse and rough like it was made of nails. "Never better."

He rolled his eyes at her, knowing he wasn't going to get an honest answer. Sarcasm might as well have been her first language instead of english. He watched as she struggled to sit up, but eventually accomplished the task. She glared up at him. "If you're going to kill me, why go through all this trouble?"

That got him. He chuckled and shook his head. "I don't want to kill you." At her confused expression, he crouched down and got close enough that their noses were almost touching. He made sure they were holding eye contact before he continued. "I want to break you."

 **pinkittwice54: 1) No one ever "likes" the ending. 2) While I would love to have that happen, I don't think it will with the way the story is going.**


	25. Chapter 25

"I still don't understand why you can't just use your magic to heal it."

Oliver sighed, briefly pausing his stitching. "I already told you."

Maddy sent him a skeptical look. "You gave me _one_ reason that, to be completely honest, doesn't even make sense. James doesn't care if I'm still hurt or bleeding. That doesn't stop him from starting another round of torture."

The englishman flinched at how casually she used the word 'torture' and sighed again. "Poppet I- there's really not much I can do." He finished stitching her arm and gently wrapped bandages around it. He hated how helpless he sounded whenever they had this argument, but after how he'd thrown a wrench in James' plan the first time, the blond had not so subtly been doing whatever it took to keep him away. He hesitated before bringing up yet another topic that often caused arguments. "You should have screamed."

"Absolutely not!" Maddy hissed, her eyes narrowing at him. "That's what he _wants!_ Hell will freeze ever before I give him what he wants."

"You don't believe in hell."

"That is _beside_ the point!"

Oliver shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to change her mind. Her stubbornness didn't usually cause her very much grief and he could get over it, but in this instance all being stubborn had gotten her were some new scars to add to her growing collection. "Biting your tongue until it bleeds just to keep from screaming isn't worth spiting him."

"Oh please, my tongue is fine. See?" To prove her point, her stuck her tongue out for a moment before closing her mouth again.

"The visual aid wasn't necessary." Oliver replied after a moment's silence. She simply shrugged in response, clearly not caring. He shook his head again, deciding to drop both topics and finished with the bandages. The silence stretched on until Oliver awkwardly broke it, "Do you want me to stay until he gets back?" She shook her head wordlessly. Suddenly, the door burst open and they both jumped. The stairs creaked as James came down them, raising an eyebrow questioningly at Oliver.

"He was just leaving." Maddy piped up before Oliver could say anything. The englishman sent her a look that screamed 'you shouldn't have said anything,' but she ignored it. Fortunately, the pink haired man knew he wouldn't win any sort of argument with either of them so he reluctantly made his way up the stairs. James waited until he heard the door close to turn his attention back to his captive. As usual, she was glaring at him, not saying a word. Her eyes were cold.

He sighed. "If looks could kill…"

"You'd have been died a hundred times over." She snapped, her voice just as icy as her eyes.

Despite the venom in her tone, he chuckled. "You know you're not as big and bad as you like to think you are, right?"

She attempted a sardonic smile. "So I've been told. I've been able to put up a fight against you though, so…" She trailed off, shrugging.

James tried to hide a smirk as he jumped to another topic. "I have a proposal."

This caught Maddy's attention and she tried to feign indifference. "So?"

He internally snickered. "I give you a head start and you try to get away."

She didn't like this. There had to be some sort of catch. "What happens if I do get away?"

He shrugged, trying to remain casual. "You can go back to your family or disappear somewhere. It doesn't really matter to me."

This was too good to be true. There was no way getting to go back to her family was this simple. He wasn't going to just let her walk out of here. _There's no way he's actually serious about this._ It was times like this that her irritation about not being able to read him reached its peak. If she could just figure out if he was serious... He certainly _seemed_ serious, but she wasn't sure she was willing to risk it if he wasn't.

"Unless, of course, you don't think you can do it." James said, noticing how she was hesitating. This was it, he'd set up what he could. Now he just had to see if she'd bite.

She scowled as he said it, her blood boiling. He didn't think she could get away from him, huh? Well, she could prove him wrong no problem. "How much time do I get?"

James smirked, trying hard not to laugh. She'd taken the bait. "Half an hour." He'd found that the easiest way to get her to do something was to suggest she couldn't. She may have tried to deny it, but deep down she was quite prideful and that was always her downfall.

"What happens if I don't get away?"

"You come back here."

"That's… it?"

"Would you rather there was some other consequence?"

She shook her head.

"Then yeah, that's it."

She gnawed at her lip, still apprehensive about the whole thing. Could she really get away? She had to try, right? Wasn't this opportunity worth the risk? But would he keep his end? Would she actually get half an hour or would he cut the time short once she'd left?

She had to at least try, whether he played fairly or not.

"Deal."

His smirk widened and grew more malicious, but he followed her up the stairs and stood near the basement as she made her way to the front door. Her hand had just closed around the handle when Allen walked over and grabbed her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Let her go." James interjected. "I told her she could go."

Allen looked at him like he was crazy, but let her leave. "I hope this is some sort of scheme of yours." He said once the door had closed behind her.

James smiled at his brother. "You should really have more faith in me. Could you set the timer for twenty minutes?"

* * *

 _Run. Just run. Don't look back. Don't slow down. Just keep running._

Maddy stumbled and sat down on a bench to catch her breath. She'd been jogging for a while now and since she didn't run much in her spare time, she was now extremely winded. Her side still hurt from where Allen had gotten her with his back, even that had been almost a month ago now.

 _Two weeks I've been with them._

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, forced herself to get up and kept moving. She couldn't rest now. She finally had a chance to get away from James, away from having to be stitched up every other day.

She couldn't blow this.

Strands of hair had come loose from her ponytail and were getting in her eyes. She began to fix it then stopped and, after a minute of pondering it, simply let her hair down. It wasn't much in the way of changing her appearance, but it was better than nothing.

Of course, James had seen her with her hair down plenty of times so it probably wouldn't do any good.

 _Focus!_

She suddenly wished she had her phone with her. At least if she had it, she could have set a timer. She had no idea if her half hour was up or if James wa going to come find her early, but she hoped she'd be able to stay hidden long enough to evade him.

She glimpsed something out of the corner of her eye and instinctively ducked into an alley. She peeked around the corner.

"Fuck."

So much for managing to get away.

* * *

"I _almost_ got away." She grumbled, glaring at the ground and refusing to look at him.

"Sure." James replied simply, rolling his eyes. He supposed if he had actually given her thirty minutes like he'd said he would, she might have been able to get away, but alas, he hadn't. Now he just had to figure out how to break her.

Nothing he'd tried so far had seemed to work. All the torture did was make her bite her lip or tongue until it bled and glare at him as he left. He'd considered and tried not letting Oliver stitch her up for a few days, but that had just led to her nearly dying and Oliver lecturing him for an hour. She didn't seem to care about herself. "Do you know self preservation means?" He asked suddenly, an idea slowly forming in his mind.

"The act of protecting oneself from harm or death, regarded as a basic instinct in both humans and animals." She rattled off, still not looking at him.

Okay, so she knew what it meant, she just didn't actively practice it. _Wonderful._ That meant all his efforts had been for nought.

He left her to her sulking and went upstairs, his mind slowly turning over his idea. "I'll be back."

* * *

Maddy jumped as the door opened again. James was cautiously making his way down the stairs, holding a thrashing form. Once he got to the bottom, he dumped the humanoid shape on the floor. Without a word, he turned and went back up the stairs, closing the door.

The form sat up, spitting swear words and grumbling. Despite the fact that she was horrified what James bringing Lovino here could mean, she chuckled as he continued to curse the canadian. He turned and was soon enveloped in a hug. "What are you doing here?" Maddy asked, without letting go.

Lovino hugged her back. "I _was_ coming to get you, but that bastard grabbed me and dragged me here and- You're hurt!" He pushed her off him and inspected the bandages wrapped around her arms. "What happened?"

"I refused to scream."

She was met with a confused look, but after a minute, he shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask."

They fell into silence, until Lovino noticed that she seemed upset. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could say. "Hey."

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'm not a pimp."

Her face went red and she buried her head in her hands. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Never."

 **pinkittwice54: Go ahead, I won't stop you.**


	26. Chapter 26

"What if we broke through the window and ran for it?"

"The window is alarmed and Bell hurt herself trying that."

Lovino scowled. "That's not helpful."

"It wasn't supposed to be," Maddy mumbled from her spot on the floor, the usual sarcastic note missing from her voice. She picked at her bandages again, only slightly wondering why she suddenly felt so empty and apathetic. Honestly, she'd gotten used to the feeling.

Lovino sent her a worried look, noticing the miserable slump of her shoulders. He'd learned a lot of her expressions over the years and didn't miss the way her eyes had dulled over the time he'd been there or the way she stared blankly off into space, chewing her lip. She may have had a blank expression on her face, but he knew that just meant her mind was racing and it wasn't in a positive way this time. "Ragazza?"

She startled, her clouded gaze finding him and seeming to clear just a little. "I'm sorry, I was thinking."

Jeez, even her voice had lost its usual touch of sass.

"Ragazza... are you okay?"

"Peachy." She replied and although there was _some_ snark in it, he could easily tell that it had been forced.

"How do you know the window is alarmed?"

"After Bell tried to get out that way, they fixed it and alarmed it."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"...Oliver told me."

"And you trust him." His voice came out cold and skeptical.

"He's not a bad guy. He's actually quite nice."

"He's part of the reason you didn't see your best friend for twenty years!"

"He wasn't expecting someone to push her off a roof!"

"That doesn't make him innocent!"

"He's the only reason I'm still alive!" She snapped finally.

Lovino stopped, staring at her. "What?"

She rolled her eyes, though she almost seemed more exhausted than annoyed. "If it wasn't for him, I'd have died of blood loss weeks ago."

It was silent for a long time as Lovino tried to process that and wondered if maybe, _just maybe,_ she might be right about the pink haired englishman. A chuckle made them both jump. "How sweet." James taunted, leaning against the wall. They'd been so distracted with their argument that they hadn't noticed him come in, with Allen close behind him. "I'll let Oliver know you think so highly of him, beauty." Lovino grit his teeth to keep from snapping at the blond. He absolutely despised the condescending tone the man used with Maddy, even if he wouldn't admit it. Almost subconsciously, he stepped in front of her protectively. Maddy noticed this and sighed, her heart dropping. _Damn it, Lovi. You being stubborn and protective isn't going to help. It's just going to end with people getting hurt._

Another chuckle from James brought her out of her train of thought. He'd noticed the threatening glare Lovino was sending him. "What are you going to do, feed me pasta until I die?" Lovino, meanwhile, tried his hardest to suppress the shudder that went through him as the canadian faced him. Much like Matthew, this man dwarfed him. James smirked before stepping away and casually pulling a gun out of his belt. Lovino eyed him suspiciously until the gun was turned on Maddy. His eyes widened and he moved to tackle the canadian, only for Allen to grab him and hold him in a headlock. That, however, didn't stop him from struggling and spitting curses.

James shook his head. "And here I thought Flavio was the more dramatic one of the two of you." He shrugged and turned his attention back to his original captive. Instead of looking even remotely afraid, she was glaring coldly at him. He cocked the gun, hoping this might cause some reaction.

"Do your worst." She growled, her expression never changing.

He pulled the gun away from her, a sort of smug grin growing on his face. "Alright." He turned away from her and pointed the gun at Lovino. He glanced back, to see that her eyes had gone as wide as saucers and she'd paled considerably, which was saying a lot for her. Now, she actually looked concerned. "Oh, you didn't think I'd brought him around just so he could watch your torment, did you?"

"He'll just regenerate." She replied in an almost robotic voice.

"Will he?" James asked mockingly. "Al, hold him still. And make sure he can't scream." The canadian waited until his brother had complied with his wishes before moving closer. Very slowly and deliberately, he pressed the gun against the italian's forehead. "You think he'll regenerate if I put the bullet in his skull?" He began squeezing the trigger, time seeming to slow down.

"No, don't!"

He stopped, a small smirk growing. Maddy's eyes went even wider (if it were possible) and she slapped a hand over her mouth. The desperate wail had burst out of her, despite how unaffected she'd been trying to act. Lovino continued squirming until he'd managed to move his head enough to get Allen's hand off his mouth. "Ragazza, don't-"

"Quiet!" She snapped, cutting him off.

Despite the fact that one of them was at risk of getting shot, one was holding a squirming hostage and the other was in the course of threatening someone's life, all three men in the room froze. They'd all gotten to know Maddy well enough to know _that_ tone. The tone that meant ' _shut the hell up or I will end you.'_ Eventually, however, they all relaxed and James grew bored. He scowled. "If you're done-" He turned to Lovino and Allen again. Time seemed to slow down as he squeezed the trigger. There came a horrified screech of "No!" and then there was a blur in front of him. Maddy had jumped in front of him, hoping to block the bullet using herself as a shield, but while it hit her, it was a very shallow graze and it continued its journey to the italian behind her. He stiffened as the bullet buried itself in his flesh and blood began flowing from the wound. Allen shoved the now injured italian away from him, stepping back towards the stairs.

James put the gun back in his belt and followed his brother. Honestly, he couldn't care less what happened now.

* * *

"Calm down."

"You just got shot!" Maddy snapped, her eyes narrowed angrily.

Lovino tried to shift his position, but pain stabbed at him and he froze, gritting his teeth.

"There's no exit wound." While she was trying to remain calm, her shaky voice betrayed how afraid she was. Afraid that she would lose him.

"Great," Lovino replied sarcastically, deciding not to comment on her fear. She hated to admit being scared of something. "That means I only have to worry about blood coming from one place."

"No!" She snapped again. "That's not good. A bullet that stays in does more damage than a bullet that just goes straight through you!"

"I'll regenerate."

"You've been saying that for an hour."

"Sometimes it takes longer."

"Lovino!"

"Stop freaking out!" He growled finally. "You're not going to fix this by badgering me. I was _trying_ to lighten the mood a little, okay?" While they could generally read each other's mood with extreme accuracy and usually didn't fight, every so often, one of them would say or do something that would set the other off.

She rolled her eyes and Lovino opened his mouth to say something, only for his vision to go black around the edges. He grimaced, instinctively pressing a hand against his wound. Maddy's irritation vanished like a flame in the wind and she watched him worriedly. "Lovi?"

He didn't answer beyond a pained groan. She stared at him in horror, frozen and unsure of what to do. She wasn't sure what finally snapped her out of her trance, but once it had, she looked around for something to wrap the wound with. Her eyes settled on her hoodie. It wouldn't make the best bandage because it had gotten so thin from years of use, but it was the only thing she had. She practically ripped the garment off and folded it into a shape she hoped would make it a better bandage. Pressing the thickest part against Lovino's side, she tied the sleeves around him. "Just hold on." She muttered, mostly to him, but also to herself. This had to work. "You're not going to die. You can't. Not like this. That's not how it works. Countries can't die from things like this."

By this point, Lovino was too dizzy and exhausted to comment on her rambling. He tried to say something, something to calm her down, maybe. He didn't really want the last thing he saw to be her terrified face. Terrified of losing him, he realized with a jolt. His mouth wouldn't work. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get his lips to move. His vision was still fading. Was this what happened to everyone when they died?

Before he could ponder it further, everything went black.

 **Okay, I know it's been a month since I've updated and I'm sorry. I know the last chapter ended on kind of a cliffhanger. Well, this one isn't any better. Truthfully, I kept putting off writing this chapter because I've been planning since the beginning of the story to have this happen, but I was dreading having to actually write it, so I procrastinated it for as long as I could.**

 **That and school started up again last week.**

 **pinkittwice54: Maddy never actually called Lovino a pimp. She misheard something Antonio said and thought Antonio had called him a pimp. This happened when she was pregnant with Sev and living with Lovino.**


	27. Chapter 27

A high-pitched sound similar to a whine rang through the house. James grimaced and looked around, wondering where it could be coming from. It wasn't until after a few minutes of fruitless searching that he realized what it was.

It was the window in the basement, that was the only thing it could be. Allen had suggested making the alarm both annoying and high pitched so none of them could ignore it. Unfortunately for James, the rest of his family had left the house a few days earlier. It had taken a lot to make Oliver leave, but eventually, he had, though it hadn't been entirely voluntary.

He sighed and got up, taking his time to get to the basement despite his growing irritation at the alarm. _Alright, she's either trying to get out or kill herself. Wonderful._

She didn't even jump when the door opened or glare at him as he came down the stairs. Her eyes were dull and unfocused, only occasionally flicking over to him to keep track of his path. She was sitting in front of the italian, putting herself between him and anyone who might harm him almost protectively. Of course, he didn't know that.

James wasn't sure if Lovino was dead or just unconscious, but the pool of blood originating from him had gotten significantly larger, his eyes were closed, his skin had paled considerably from its normal olive tone and he was unresponsive. It was probably safe to assume that if he wasn't already dead, it wouldn't be long before he got there.

Italy didn't need two personifications, after all. If nothing else, Feliciano could take over. Not that Lovino had done much for the country anyway, everyone had always gone to his younger brother for anything related to it.

"So, what should I do with you?" He asked, once the silence had become unbearable, though his question hadn't been aimed at the one who could respond. He nudged Lovino's leg with his foot. "I could always ship you off to Luciano. Make pasta sauce out of an actual italian. Wouldn't that be ironic?"

Just as he expected her to do, Maddy sent him a cold glare. What he hadn't expected her to do was to lurch to her feet and lunge for him, her hand clenched around… something. He sidestepped, latching onto her wrist as she stumbled, clearly not having planned for the possibility of him moving out of the way. He tried to hold her as still as possible as he examined whatever it was she'd tried to attack him with.

 _A shard of glass._

That was why she'd broken the window.

Blood was already welling up around where the glass had dug into her palm, staining it red and probably doing far more damage to her hand than simply crawling out the window would have.

"I wonder," he mumbled, after a few more minutes of silence. "What exactly did you think stabbing me with a glass shard would accomplish? I heal. I'm immortal. At the very least, you would have had to find a way to severely wound me to do anything."

She didn't respond, just tried to tug her wrist out of his grip.

That was answer enough for him. She hadn't had a plan. It had been a pure impulse decision that she had been planning to see through without caring about the outcome. If she managed to get away from him, great. If not, oh well.

He fingered the knife in his pocket. She probably wouldn't care enough to look and recognize it as her own. "You really should have tried harder than that, beauty." Taking the pocket knife out and flipping the blade open, he dragged her towards him as she began to squirm even more and try to get away from him. "I really did care, y'know." He thrust the knife forward and she stiffened, blood oozing out of the new puncture wound in her gut. More of the red liquid bubbled up at her lips and she... _smirked at him?_

He scowled and jerked the knife out, stepping away from her. Her legs buckled and before he knew it, she was on the ground, hands pressed against her abdomen. After a minute, she began shaking and for a minute, he thought she was having some sort of seizure or crying, but soon he realized she was laughing. "What's so funny?" _And she thinks I'm hard to read!_

In that moment, her laughter changed from silent and controlled to loud and close to maniacal. She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly wide and gleaming with crazed mirth. "You never got what you wanted."

He stiffened. "I always get what I want."

She shook her head, in an almost dreamy manner. "Not this time. So sorry to spoil the fun." The sarcasm was there, just as he had known it would be, but now it had an underlying layer of both madness and smugness to it.

She looked like she'd finally snapped and lost her mind, though he supposed that the blood running down her chin didn't exactly help.

"Well, unlike your friend over there, you don't regenerate. Have fun with the last few minutes."

"Naturally."

He turned and left before she could say something else in that deranged tone. He'd had quite enough of crazy people for awhile, thank you very much.

* * *

"The damn coward wouldn't even stay to clean up his own mess," Matthew growled, looking around. The house had seemed too quiet, to begin with, but now that he and Alfred had searched most of the house and found it abandoned, he felt like breaking something. Alfred watched his brother warily. He knew this side of Matthew, the one that rarely came out, but usually wreaked mayhem when it did. This was part of the reason he didn't watch hockey with Matthew anymore.

"Swear jar," Brittany said jokingly, but it was forced and half-hearted. She had a horrible feeling about all of this. She knew her best friend well enough to know that if Maddy wasn't locked in a room somewhere, she'd have come running to them by now. And if she had been locked in a room somewhere, she would've heard them and started trying to break the doors down. Since neither of those things had happened, Brittany had begun to assume the worst. While they'd been putting off going into the basement for as long as they could, they no longer had a choice. There was no other room to search in an attempt to prolong the inevitable. The three of them hesitantly opened the door, shocked that it hadn't been locked like they'd expected it to be. "Oh my god," Brittany mumbled, her voice muffled by the hand that had subconsciously flown to her mouth.

The small window on the side wall had been smashed, jagged points tipped with blood. There was nothing in the basement to suggest it had been used as a torture chamber and then as a prison. Nothing except the two bloodied and limp bodies on the ground. Brittany found herself drifting over to her friend's body.

"He's not regenerating."

Matthew shook himself out of a daze he hadn't even realized he'd gone into and frowned at his brother, who was examining Lovino. "He should be."

"He's _not,"_ Alfred repeated, a small amount of his irritation leaking into his voice.

Matthew grumbled for a minute, before turning his attention to the italian. It didn't take long for him to figure out the problem. "The bullet's enchanted. The spell on it keeps the victim from magically regenerating."

Brittany frowned at him. "Those exist?"

"The second players developed them years ago. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't use them on us the first time they tried to kidnap you."

"So what do we do about it?"

Matthew spared a glance at the other body. _She'd want you to try and heal him,_ a snide voice in his head whispered. He sighed. "He's lost a lot of blood. Most people don't survive after losing so much." He ran a hand through his hair. "I think if we bandaged the wound properly and got him back to the house in a timely manner, I could see what I could do." He paused again, trying to steady his breathing. "I couldn't make any promises though."

"Alright, we'll go look for bandages," Brittany replied, grabbing Alfred's arm. "Let's go, Alfred." She seemed eager to leave the basement. Matthew found that he couldn't blame her.

Once they'd gone, Matthew let out a shaky breath. It took a few tries, but eventually, he forced himself to look at the other body. Once he'd managed it, however, he found himself trying to deny it. This couldn't be real. She wasn't dead.

She couldn't be.

" _True love's kiss. Gross."_

 _Matthew sighed. "Why can't we ever just watch the movie without you criticizing every little thing?"_

" _It's not every little thing," Maddy argued while waving her water around. Matthew dodged a particularly wild swing as she continued, "I'm just saying that the whole idea of prince charmings and true love's kiss breaking the spell is ridiculous."_

" _You think anything having to do with affection and true love is ridiculous."_

" _That's because a good curse wouldn't be broken by something as minuscule as a kiss."_

" _And you know so much about curses all of a sudden?"_

 _She stuck her tongue out at him and went back to watching the movie, silently this time._

She'd always hated overly sappy things and he was pretty sure he was far from what could be considered a "prince charming," but maybe. It probably, wouldn't even work, but… Taking a deep breath, he leaned down and gently kissed her. He pulled away and waited for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only about a minute.

Nothing.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He hadn't really expected it to work, but a small part of him had hoped-

"Mattie! We found bandages!"

Matthew hurriedly brushed his tears away as his twin came barreling down the stairs. The bandages were handed over and he turned to Lovino. He didn't say anything to either of them, he didn't trust his voice. Purposely ignoring everyone in the room except the italian, he undid the makeshift hoodie bandage and went to work wrapping the real ones. "Done." He murmured after a few minutes. "We should go."

* * *

Lovino bolted upright, some feeling in his gut telling him something was horribly wrong. The abrupt movement, however, wasn't good for his still-healing bullet wound and he instinctively curled into a ball, his breath hissing out between his teeth with one hand pressed against his side.

It took him a moment to realize that not only was he no longer in that damn basement, but also that he wasn't alone.

Matthew shook his head at the italian, almost like a disapproving parent. "You're not going to heal any faster by flailing around like that."

Normally the italian would have some sort of sarcastic comeback for the canadian, but he was too shocked that he was still alive to think of one. He looked around, wondering why the terrible feeling in his gut hadn't gone away. "Where-" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat, "Where is-" He stopped, something finally clicking in his head.

As much as he always tried to act like he didn't care anymore, Matthew wouldn't just leave Maddy in that awful house. Not unless something had happened. Something he couldn't fix.

Matthew seemed to know what he was thinking, because the blond man sighed, "We didn't get there in time. By the time we got to you two, she was already-" His breath caught in his throat. "Well, honestly, you're lucky we were able to do anything for you."

"I wish I hadn't been lucky!" Lovino snapped, tears blurring his vision. Why had he been the one to make it out? No one cared if he survived or not. Why couldn't they have gotten there in time to save her? "You-" His voice was shaky and thick with grief. "You should have saved her."

"You think I didn't _want_ to?" Matthew growled. "That's what I was planning to do, but I couldn't, alright? You can be as mad at me as you want, but don't assume I don't understand what you're feeling. I get it, okay? I messed up!"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

Before Matthew could answer, the door burst open, revealing a very distressed looking Severus. The boy took one wide-eyed look at his father and then darted over. Lovino stiffened when the hug was first initiated, but after a moment of stunned silence, he hugged his son back. Matthew silently got up and left the room, seeking out his own children.

"Dad." Sev choked out, "Is it true? Is mom really-"

Lovino hugged his son tighter, those stupid tears starting up again. For the briefest minute, he wanted to deny it, wanted to say she wasn't dead because how could she be? She was too stubborn to die. His heart dropping, he nodded, squeezing his eyes shut to keep the tears at bay, but a few slipped out anyway. He couldn't deny it, no matter how much he wanted to. Sev had been dreading his father's nod and was now openly sobbing.

Neither of them had ever been so obvious when displaying their feelings, much less around each other. There was a certain understanding between them now. Lovino cursed himself silently. _Why did it take someone dying to bring us closer?_

 **Okay, so this story turned out a lot darker and sadder than I originally intended, but I'm actually pretty happy with it. I didn't get to touch on Lovino and Maddy's friendship quite as much as I wanted to, but they weren't really supposed to be the main focus of the story anyway.**

 **CheesecakeKittyCat: Thank you!**

 **I've gotten a couple questions about how Lovino never figured out why Maddy and Matthew broke up. Well, truthfully, he did figure it out. He had his suspicions and he was about 99% certain that their breakup was partially because of him, but he decided not to push the issue. He figured that if Maddy wanted to talk about it, she would.**

 **Now, how everyone reacted to the whole "cheating" thing. Francis and Alfred both took Matthew's side in the matter, pretty much everyone did, but those were the two major ones that Maddy talked to and interacted with. Once they all found out that it was because of a spell, both apologized, but Francis decided to give her space which is why they don't talk much anymore. Alfred apologized and then pretty much forced her to spend time with him and she gave up on trying to make him go away.**

 **Now, I know I was very protective of the OTP in the original fanfic, but while writing this one, I started thinking about the children as small kids and just got this idea for an AU where Severus is the only kid who ever actually exists and Maddy and Lovino just raise him together in Italy. In my head, it's really cute and Sev grows up to be a lot sassier than he is in this story because that's how his parents show affection while he's growing up. He's still a generally sweet kid, but the sarcasm is a lot more prominent.**

 **I've also gotten a couple questions about why Maddy stopped living with Lovino in the first place. Neither of them could have known at the time that she was going to get pregnant again, so why'd she leave? Because I read between the lines enough in the original fanfic and talked to the actual person enough to figure out that being comfortable somewhere or at least settling down somewhere is actually really terrifying for her. So, in my head, Maddy started to get comfortable living with Lovino and she got so scared that something bad was going to happen and mess it up that she decided she needed to leave. The excuse I imagine her giving Lovino would be "I need to get back on my feet and I can't do that depending on you." I also imagine Lovino wasn't very happy to hear this because, in my head, he became very protective of her.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now. I'm going to stop before this turns into pages and pages of headcanons and things that didn't get detailed explanations in the story.**


	28. Epilogue

**3 years later**

"Sev wants help with Michelle next weekend." Selene said, taking a brief break from her manuscript to look at her phone.

"That's wonderful." Brittany replied flatly. She ignored the glare her twin sent her, though it wasn't easy to tell anymore that they were twins. While Selene's hair was still long and white, it was currently incredibly messy and greasy. It had been a few days since she'd showered and she'd forgotten to brush it before running out of the house to meet her sister. Brittany had not only chopped her hair to her chin, but also dyed it a chestnut brown the month before.

Though she refused to admit it, Selene knew her twin had changed her hair so drastically because she hated looking in the mirror and seeing their mother's reflection.

"Brittany…" Selene began in a warning tone.

"Fine!" Brittany snapped, in an attempt to stop her twins lecture before it could start. "Help with what?"

"Taking care of Michelle." Selene repeated. It was silent for a long time before she said quietly, "Mom would want the two of you to get along, y'know."

Brittany scowled, more due to the fact that she could suddenly feel tears welling up than to her sisters statement. "Well, mom isn't around to make us behave anymore, is she?" Selene flinched at her sisters scathing tone. She hated using their mother as an argument, but lately those had been the only ones that would get through to any of her siblings, mainly Sev, Bell and Brittany. Even after all these years, they still couldn't manage to get along.

The albino sighed and unlocked her phone again. _I'll see what I can do about Brittany, but I'll be there and I'm sure Chris will want to help._

It took a few minutes for her older brother to reply. _You'd think growing up with three younger sisters would make me better at taking care of girls. She's just as fussy as Bell and Brittany were._

Selene snickered and set her phone down, going back to her document.

* * *

"I'm honestly not sure what else I could tell you."

Brittany scowled, taking a sip from the water Lovino had given her. "There's a great deal you could tell me." She didn't mean to be so short, but everyone seemed so reluctant to talk about Maddy that she was beginning to wonder if they'd all forgotten who the blonde had been closest to to begin with.

The italian raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless you want all the nitty gritty details, no, there's really not."

Brittany opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by a rather frantic knock at the door. Lovino almost looked relieved to have an excuse to leave the room. "Excuse me." He got up, disappearing from the room.

Lovino scowled as he made his way to the door. He understood why Brittany wanted to hear about how her friend had been in the twenty years that they'd been apart, he really did, but she was starting to get on his nerves. She wanted to know things he wasn't sure he could tell her and had so many questions that he just didn't have the answers to.

He paused in front of the door to take a deep breath so he wouldn't take his mounting irritation out on whoever had decided to visit. He opened the door, half expecting it to be Antonio. The damn tomato bastard had made a habit of visiting him and the kids even more than usual after Maddy had died.

It was not Antonio.

"Severus?"

The young man stared at his father, seemingly on the verge of tears. "I- I'm sorry dad. I didn't really know where else to go. Bell has her roommates and I didn't think they'd know what to do, but I- Michelle won't stop crying and I don't know what's wrong with her and I couldn't think of anyone else who's dealt with children semi recently." He clutched a previously hidden bundle to his chest.

Lovino felt his sour mood slide away. "Well, don't stand out there. Come on."

Severus, fueled by his desperation and the coming chill as the sun sets, swiftly makes his way into the house. He hears his father close the door behind him and looks around. _And here I thought I'd gotten out of here._ While, he'd only moved out the year before, he enjoyed living on his own. He'd been a little lonely, having grown up with his father and sister, with his mother and uncles' (Antonio has dubbed himself an uncle to both Vargas children, much to Lovino's displeasure) constantly visiting.

Admittedly, he'd moved out to get away from the memories of his mother that were trapped in this house. The guest bedroom she'd always stayed was close to his old room. He'd had to pass everyday to get downstairs. He would've moved out earlier, but... he hadn't felt ready to and then it had gotten to the point where he didn't care anymore. He'd needed out of this house, away from all the reminders of when he'd actually been happy, when he and his parents could pretend to be a family.

And yet, here he was, running back to his father, back to his childhood home, simply because he didn't know how to make his daughter stop crying.

"I'll take her. You can go upstairs and sleep for a while. I'm sure it's been a few days since you've slept well."

Severus was jerked from his thoughts by his father's statement. He turned to hand his baby over, but froze. His father was looking at the two of them with a soft expression, one the young man hadn't seen on his father's face since... oh no. Not _that_ expression. His stomach flipped once, twice, threatening to heave its contents forward. That was the same way his father had always looked at his mother, unless they were arguing about something.

Hastily, he handed his daughter over to his father, suddenly feeling dizzy and weightless. "I think-" He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I think I'll go lie down. Take your advice."

Lovino nodded, watching his son make his way up the stairs. He looked down at his granddaughter, cradling her close to his chest. "Hello bambina." She looked up at him, her face scrunching up as she yawned. "Just as tired as tuo padre, I see." Her eyes seemed to widen at his statement and he smiled at her, a small, bittersweet smile. "You have your grandmother's eyes. I wish she was here to see you. She'd steal you away every chance she got. Your father would have to fight her to get you back."

Michelle's eyes didn't hold the same pain and sadness that her grandmother's always had, but they were the same vibrant blue. For now, she just seemed curious about the entire world, constantly looking around and trying to take everything in.

"Don't bambina, I'll protect you. Always."

 **Hey, look, I finally got the epilogue out. Yay...**

 **There was a lot more that I wanted to cover in this, but I tried covering it all in the first draft and it got so jumbled up and I lost motivation for it, so I decided it would be better to focus on a few points.**

 **Michelle is the daughter of Severus and the girl from his psychology class (does anyone remember her? Don't worry if you don't). Her name is Evelina, but she goes by Eva and she left Sev shortly after Michelle was born.**

 **The kids** ** _did not_** **take their mother's death well and they all dealt with it differently. Sev and Bell both ran, Selene and Brittany both try to pretend everything is normal and Chris is pretty depressed now. He's pretty much the only one who fully accepted it.**

 **Also, the random point that was going to be brought up in the original draft. Matthew gave Maddy a promise ring, which she kept in a box in her closet after they broke up because no matter what, she just couldn't bring herself to get rid of it. In my head, it gets found by Brittany (the best friend, not the child) and she pretty much screamed at Matthew for a while.**


End file.
